Stuyvesant Principal Stanley Teitel wrote on the school’s web site on Saturday that tests have not yet confirmed the exact cause of death but, “the symptoms suggest an infection known as meningococcal disease.”
Teitel assured students and parents that casual contact with Hecht, such as having a conversation or sitting in a classroom together would not put people at risk for the disease. “The Health Department has informed us that secondary cases in close contacts are rare and usually occur in the first week after exposure,” he wrote.
Symptoms include fever, chills, stiff neck, headache, rash and nausea or vomiting. The city reports up to 50 cases a year.
Funeral services were held Sunday at Sinai Chapel in Fresh Meadows, where fellow classmates remembered her friendliness and love of the arts. More than 400 attended.
Ava was on the school’s fencing team, in chorus, theater and served as a cartoonist on the school newspaper, The Spectator. She also was a webcomic artist with a super hero known as Soprano Man.
Stuyvesant students have started Project Ava in her honor as a tribute to her spirit and generosity. People are asked to mark $1 bills with the words “From Ava” in the upper left corner. They are then instructed to give them out to needy people such as the homeless and street artists.
It was reported on Tuesday that a male student at Stuyvesant may have contracted meningitis and was currently in the hospital.
The Medical Examiner’s Office said on Wednesday that test results were still pending on the cause of Ava’s death.
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