IU encourages students to receive meningitis vaccine

Only 12 percent of teens received a U.S. Health Department-recommended meningitis shot this year, according to a government survey released Aug. 30. On IU’s campus alone, only 7 to 9 percent of incoming students have received the vaccine in the past five years, said Dr. Hugh Jessop, director of the IU Health Center. \nThis is worrisome, considering 5 to 10 percent of the population are carrying the meningococcal bacteria in the nose or in the back of their throat in a harmless state, said Dr. Hugh Jessop, director of the IU \nHealth Center. \nEach year, new students receive a letter from the University providing information about meningitis and the strongly recommended vaccine, Menactra. Before they arrive on campus, IU requires a signature from every student saying they have read the material. The signed form is sent to the registrar. \nMenactra, approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, became the preferred vaccination as of 2005, replacing a previous version of the meningitis vaccine, Menomune, \nJessop said. \nThe state does not require the vaccination, but strongly recommends students to consider it, Jessop said. \n“Students get to select whether or not they want the vaccination and I think that is exactly the right thing to do,” he said. \nThere are two types of meningitis, bacterial and viral. Viral meningitis is more common and usually occurs in late summer and early fall, Jessop said. Symptoms can include abdominal discomfort, chest pain or a rash. Because this is a virus, antibiotics will have no effect. However, most cases of viral meningitis run a short course, according to the health center’s Web site. \nThe other form, bacterial meningitis, is rare but can be very serious and requires antibiotic treatment. This disease can be very deceptive in that it surfaces as minor cold symptoms for a few days before progressing to severe meningococcal meningitis in a relatively short period of time, according to the Web site. Left untreated, the meningococcal infection can be fatal. \nMenactra can prevent four types of meningococcal disease, including two of the three types most common in the U.S. and a type that causes epidemics in Africa, Vickie VanDeventer, infection control practitioner for Bloomington Hospital, wrote in an e-mail. \nShe added that the meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MCV4 or Menactra) is preferred for people 11 to 55 years of age, especially those in certain risk groups, including U.S. military recruits, college freshmen living in dorms, anyone with a damaged or removed spleen and people with an immune \nsystem disorder. \n“Both vaccines (MCV4 and the older meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine) work well, and protect about 90 percent of those who get it,” said VanDeventer. “MCV4 is expected to give better, longer-\nlasting protection.” \nJessop said that Menactra lasts about three to five years. The price of the new vaccine depends on individual insurance plans and the vaccination site. Jessop said the shot costs $100 at the heath center. Jessop also said the health center always has the vaccine stocked, unlike most smaller private practices that will not have the vaccine stocked because it is too costly to do so. \nThe vaccine is highly recommended because the bacteria can be spread from person to person by direct contact with an infected person’s nose or throat secretions. Jessop said people ages 16 to 29 are most likely to contract the disease because of \nlife situations. \n“College students over 21 are going out to bars, they aren’t sleeping and eating well and they are under stress, which can happen in college or even at a job,” Jessop said. “These factors can compromise the immune system.” \nAs long as carriers maintain a healthy immune system, the bacteria may stay inactive. A suppressed immune system can make a dormant bacteria \nflare up. \n“If a person has a preexisting disease that affects the immune system in a negative way, they should give (the vaccine) a higher level of consideration,” Jessop said.