Is The Meningitis Vaccine Required For College

Are Students Required To Get Meningococcal Vaccine Before College

Yes. Massachusetts law requires the following students receive quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine :

• Secondary School : newly enrolled full-time students who will be living in a dormitory or other congregate housing licensed or approved by the secondary school must provide documentation of having received a dose of meningococcal conjugate vaccine at any time in the past.
• Postsecondary Institutions : newly enrolled full-time students 21 years of age and younger must provide documentation of having received a dose of quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine on or after their 16th birthday, regardless of housing status.

Immunizations should be obtained prior to enrollment or registration however, students may be enrolled or registered provided that the required immunizations are obtained within 30 days of registration. There is no requirement for meningococcal B vaccination. However, adolescents and young adults may also be vaccinated with a serogroup B meningococcal vaccine, preferably at 16 through 18 years of age, to provide short term protection for most strains of serogroup B meningococcal disease.

More information about requirements and exemptions may be found in the MDPH document Information about Meningococcal Disease, Meningococcal Vaccines, Vaccination Requirements and the Waiver for Students at Colleges and Residential Schools.

‘prevent What’s Preventable’ With Covid

Ten years later, Schanbaum and Williams said they see parallels between their past advocacy for a meningitis vaccine mandate for college students and the present-day efforts for a similar requirement for the COVID-19 vaccine.

They both said theyre in favor of a COVID-19 vaccine requirement for universities, but theyre not necessarily hopeful it will happen. Schanbaum said shes not confident that the current Legislature would have approved the 2011 law.

If I tried to get these laws passed today, no way would they pass just because of the camaraderie that has formed around this misinformation, and it’s really affecting the community, Schanbaum said. Each year, the uphill battle gets steeper for the people behind the science.

The arguments against vaccine mandates havent changed much in the past decade, but the people and organizations opposing any COVID-19 vaccine requirement have found an ally in Abbott and Republican lawmakers.

Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, chair of the Senate Committee on Higher Education from 2012 to 2019, said he voted for the meningitis vaccine requirement because medical officials said it was important to do so, and there was little public opposition.

He said he opposes a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for colleges and universities, however.

Kolkhorst did not comment further, and several other Republican lawmakers who voted for the meningitis vaccine requirement in 2011 did not respond to requests for comment.

Law Increases Meningitis Vaccine Requirements For College Students

In addition to class schedules, tuition and fees, college students have one more thing to worry about this semester: meeting new meningitis vaccine requirements before they can start classes.

In May, the Texas Legislature approved Senate Bill 1107, which requires new college students to provide proof of a bacterial meningitis vaccine 10 days before classes begin. That is a significant expansion of a 2009 law that required only students living on campus to get vaccinated, said Dominic Chavez, senior director of external relations at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. The new requirements affect all new students, including those living off campus.

Now, all new students to a college or university, transfer students or students who are returning to college after taking off consecutive semesters are required to get the bacterial meningitis vaccine. Students enrolled only in online or other long-distance education courses or who are 30 years of age or older are exempted from immunization requirements, according to the bill summary.

The medical community makes the case that bacterial meningitis because it is a highly contagious disease with a high rate of death and thrives in close knit communities, college communities are at risk, Chavez said, adding he did not know what makes other large entities where people work closely together different.

Thats exactly the concern officials at the Lone Star College System have.

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Who Should Get The Meningococcal Vaccines

The MenACWY vaccine is recommended for college freshman living in a dormitory. The vaccine has been recommended for 11-12 year olds since 2005, so it is possible that incoming freshmen have already received a dose. If you received a dose before age 16, you should get a booster before you go to college.

Required For New & Transfer Students Under 22 Years Of Age:

As of Oct. 1, 2013, Texas state law requires the following:

All entering students under 22 years of age must provide documentation of receiving an initial bacterial meningitis vaccination dose or booster within the last 5 years. This includes all new and transfer students, as well as former students who are re-enrolling after a break in enrollment. Students must show proof of having the vaccination at least 10 days prior to the start of the semester.

Students may not register until documentation of vaccination is on file.

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What States Require Meningitis B Vaccine For College Students

SCHOOLS CURRENTLY REQUIRING MENB VACCINATION

• California. California Polytechnic State University.
• Delaware. Delaware State University.
• Florida. Florida Agricultural And Mechanical University.
• Georgia. Morehouse College.
• Idaho. The College of Idaho.
• Indiana. Ball State University.
• Michigan. Aquinas College.

Requesting An Exemption For Medical Reasons Or Reasons Of Conscience

Students are encouraged to receive the meningitis vaccination because of the higher prevalence of this serious infection in adolescents and young adults. However, a student or the parent or guardian of a student may decline the meningitis vaccination for medical reasons, or for reasons of conscience.

Do not submit any exemption document to Undergraduate Admissions or the Student Health Center.

Texas State uses Magnus Health SMR for managing compliance with the meningitis requirement. Students subject to the bacterial meningitis requirement will receive an email from Magnus Health SMR with instructions. Students will be charged $10 by Magnus Health SMR for processing all exemption documents and verifying compliance with the requirement.

An exemption to the vaccination requirement may be requested by providing one of the following documents:

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What Is Acceptable Evidence Of Vaccination

Documentation must be in English, state the name and other information sufficient to identify the individual who received the required vaccination, state the month, date and year the vaccine was administered.

College Students Now Required To Get Bacterial Meningitis Vaccine

They kiss, they share water bottles, they live in tightly packed dormitories, and so they are at a higher risk of getting meningitis, a potentially fatal disease, than many other sectors of the population.

Thats why New Jersey has just become the 38th state to require college students to be vaccinated against bacterial meningitis as a condition for attending an institution.

Gov. Phil Murphy signed bill A-1991 on Jan. 14, endorsing a law that advocates hope will prevent outbreaks of the rare but potentially deadly disease on college campuses.

Meningitis is an extraordinarily dangerous disease thats spread through casual contact, said Assemblywoman Nancy Munoz , one of the bill sponsors. It can kill you, and it can also maim you for life.

She said a typical college dorm lifestyle that involves sharing water glasses, silverware and bathrooms is more likely to spread meningitis than other settings such as crowded commuter trains or offices. Even if you work in a close space, you dont tend to kiss your co-workers, she said.

Although high school students may experience similar living conditions, they are already covered by a program that vaccinates them at about 12 and then again at 16. The new law aims to prevent the disease in the older age group.

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People With Certain Medical Conditions Need A 2

Vaccinate people with the following medical conditions with a 2-dose primary series of MenACWY vaccine administered 8 weeks apart:

• Complement component deficiency
• Functional or anatomic asplenia
• HIV

Administer routine booster doses every 5 years throughout life to people with these medical conditions. Booster doses will help these patients maintain protection against meningococcal disease.

What Are Neisseria Meningitidis

Neisseria meningitidis are bacteria that may be found normally in peoples throats and noses. About 5 to 15% of people carry these bacteria and do not get sick from them. These people may be referred to as colonized. Colonized people only have bacteria for a short time. Usually, the bacteria go away and these people may have increased resistance to infection in the future. In rare cases, the bacteria may get into the blood and go to the tissue surrounding the spinal cord and brain, causing severe illness. It is not known why this occurs in certain people and not in others. A recent upper respiratory illness may be a contributing factor.

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How Do I Prove I Have Received The Vaccination

You must provide a copy of your vaccination record to the Registrars Office . Kilgore College will not return vaccination records submitted nor provide copies for use at other schools. Records may be mailed, faxed, or delivered in person to the Registrar’s Office.

Kilgore College Registrars Office1100 BroadwayDevall Student Center, 2nd Floor

Recommendations For Use Of Meningococcal Polysaccharide Vaccine In College Students

College freshmen, particularly those who live in dormitories, are at modestlyincreased risk for meningococcal disease relative to other persons their age.Vaccination with the currently available quadrivalent meningococcal polysaccharide vaccinewill decrease the risk for meningococcal disease among such persons. Vaccinationdoes not eliminate risk because a) the vaccine confers no protection against serogroupB disease and b) although the vaccine is highly effective against serogroups C, Y,W-135, and A, efficacy is < 100%.

The risk for meningococcal disease among college students is low therefore,vaccination of all college students, all freshmen, or only freshmen who live in dormitoriesor residence halls is not likely to be cost-effective for society as a whole. Thus, ACIPis issuing the following recommendations regarding the use of meningococcalpolysaccharide vaccines for college students.

Additional Considerations about Vaccination ofCollege Students

Although the need for revaccination of older children has not beendetermined, antibody levels decline rapidly over 2–3 years. Revaccination may be considered for freshmen who were vaccinated more than 3–5 years earlier. Routine revaccination of college students who were vaccinated as freshmen is not indicated.

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Do I Have To Get The Meningitis Vaccination

• Entering students 22 years of age or older by the first day of class for the semester are exempt.
• Students taking online classes only should submit an Online Enrollment Only Exemption Request form
• If your physician recommends that for health reasons the student not receive the immunization, the student should submit a Vaccine Requirement Form and submit a note from the physician. The signed note should be on either office letterhead or on prescription paper.
• If for reasons of conscience, including religious belief you are declining the vaccination, students should submit a completed Vaccine Requirement Form and an Affidavit from the Texas Department of State Health Services. Initiate your request to TDSHS well before your intended orientation date. It may take several weeks to receive your form during peak times.

Menacwy Vaccine Mandates For Colleges And Universities

State

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Meningococcal Vaccine And College Students

On September 30, 1997, the American College Health Association ,which represents about half of colleges that have student health services, released astatement recommending that “college health services a more proactive role inalerting students and their parents about the dangers of meningococcal disease,” that”college students consider vaccination against potentially fatal meningococcaldisease,” and that “colleges and universities ensure all students have access to avaccination program for those who want to be vaccinated” . Parent andcollege student advocates have also encouraged more widespread use ofmeningococcal vaccine in college students. In a joint study by ACHA and CDC, surveys were sentto 1,200 ACHA-member schools of 691 responding schools, 57 reported thatpre-exposure meningococcal vaccination campaigns had been conducted on theircampus since September 1997. A median of 32 students were vaccinated at each school . During the 1998–1999 school year,3%–5% of 148 students enrolled in a case-control study reported receiving prophylacticmeningococcal vaccination . Before the 1999 fall semester, many schools mailedinformation packets to incoming freshmen data are not yet available regarding theproportion of students who have been vaccinated.

Cost-effectiveness of meningococcal vaccine incollege students

How Long Does Meningitis Vaccine Last

Meningitis vaccines are thought to only last for about five years, according to the Center for Young Womens Health. Adults can also get the meningitis vaccine if their doctors recommend it. Certain situations can warrant the use of meningitis vaccinations.

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People With Certain Medical Conditions Need A Primary Series Of Menb Vaccine And Routine Booster Doses

Vaccinate people who have the following medical conditions with a primary series of MenB vaccine:

• Complement component deficiency
• Functional or anatomic asplenia

The primary series for Bexsero® requires 2 doses. Administer the second dose at least one month after the first dose. The primary series for Trumenba® for people at increased risk requires 3 doses. Administer the second dose 1 to 2 months after the first dose. Administer the third dose 6 months after the first dose.

Administer a booster dose of MenB vaccine 1 year after series completion and then every 2 to 3 years thereafter, to people with these medical conditions.

Students Under 22 Years Of Age Who Will Take Any Face

Documentation must be submitted at least 10 days prior to the student’s first in-person class.

Effective Jan. 1, 2014, state law requires students who will be under age 22 on their first day of class at a public, private or independent institution of higher education in Texas to provide proof of immunization for bacterial meningitis. The vaccination or booster dose must have been received during the five years prior to enrollment and at least ten days before the start of classes.

Students who have been previously enrolled at Texas State and are enrolling following a break in enrollment of at least one fall or spring semester will be subject to the vaccination requirement. Students transferring from another institution of higher education will also be subject to the vaccination requirement.

Texas State requires you to meet this requirement before you will be allowed to register for classes.

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Important Information For You

New Requirements:

Beginning January 1, 2012, all entering students 21 years of age or younger are required to show evidence of an initial bacterial meningitis vaccine or a booster dose during the five-year period preceding and at least 10 days prior to the first day of the first semester in which the student initially enrolls at an institution.

The meningitis vaccination requirement applies to:

• All first-time freshman
• All new dual credit students taking a course on a Hill College campus
• All new and returning continuing education students
• All returning Hill students who have experienced a break in Hill enrollment of at least one fall or spring term

On-Campus Housing- Please note that students must provide documentation of having received the vaccination at least 10 days prior to the student taking up residence in on-campus housing.

Deadlines

Meningitis shot records with dates of inoculation at least 10 days prior to the 1st class day and the shot date must also be no later than 5 years prior must be submitted to Student Information Services before registration.

Required MV Documentation

At least one of the following must be faxed, mailed or submitted in person to Student Information Services:

The following students are not required to submit an MV:

4. Can the DSHS exemption forms be photocopied?