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Why Do Colleges Require Meningitis Vaccine

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Must Faculty And Staff Be Vaccinated

Meningococcus Vaccine – Why Do College Students Need It?

Mandates vary at individual campuses, but many vaccine requirements have focused on students. The thinking goes that students are less likely to seek out the shots on their own. Students also tend to be more social or live in crowded spaces, which means they have a higher potential to spread the virus.

What’s more, it’s easier for universities to mandate shots for their students than their employees. And while some companies have started rolling out vaccine mandates, universities generally haven’t been among them.

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

Menb Vaccines Require Multiple Doses

Both MenB vaccine products require more than 1 dose for maximum protection. Adolescents must receive the same vaccine product for all doses.

  • Bexsero:® Administer 2 doses. Administer the second dose at least 1 month after first dose.
  • Trumenba:® Administer 2 or 3 doses.
  • Administer 2 doses to healthy adolescents who are not at increased risk for serogroup B meningococcal disease. Administer the second dose 6 months after the first dose.
  • Administer 3 doses to adolescents who are at increased risk for meningococcal disease. This includes during outbreaks of serogroup B meningococcal disease. Administer the second dose 1 to 2 months after the first dose. Administer the third dose 6 months after the first dose.

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Administer Menb Vaccines At 16 Through 18 Years Of Age To Maximize Protection When Adolescents Are At Highest Risk

CDC recommends clinicians who choose to administer the MenB vaccine series give it in later adolescence. The preferred age at which to administer MenB vaccine is between 16 to 18 years. This timing maximizes the likelihood that vaccinated adolescents will have protection during the ages when they are at highest risk. Clinicians hopefully will see college-bound adolescents during a pre-college visit. If so, this visit provides an opportunity to initiate the MenB vaccine series for those who choose to receive it.

Are Students Required To Get Meningococcal Vaccine Before College

Meningitis Vaccines &  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.

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Why An Increase In Meningitis Outbreaks On College Campuses

When you are in a situation with a whole bunch of people who share items like cups, water bottles, lipstick or engage in unhygienic behavior, it just magnifies the risk, said Sankar Swaminathan, MD, division chief of infectious diseases at University of Utah Health.

Meningococcal disease is bacterial and causes bloodstream infections and meningitis. College students, especially those living in residence halls, are prone to contracting the disease because of their close proximity to each other.

In the face of the meningitis outbreaks, Princeton University will begin offering students a vaccine that not approved in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Food and Drug Administration gave the green light last week to allow the use of Bexsero, a type B meningitis vaccine. The vaccine is only licensed in Europe and Australia. Students will remain at high-risk until the disease has run its course. This vaccine will help protect students who have not been exposed, said Swaminathan.

Its easy to mistake the early signs of meningitis for the flu. Both have symptoms that include a high fever, vomiting and nausea. But according to Swaminathan anytime a high fever is accompanied by a severe headache you should see a doctor right away. Other symptoms of meningitis also include confusion, stiff neck, seizures, sleepiness, and sensitivity to light.

You Do Not Have To Comply If You Are

  • Age 22 or older
  • Registered ONLY in online classes
  • Participating in Community Education training totaling less than 360 contact hours in a semester
  • Enrolled in dual credit courses taught at a public or private K-12 facility not on the college campus
  • Incarcerated and receiving education at a prison facility

Lee College is required to inform you that there are authorized exemptions from the requirement even if you are subject to it.

  • A note signed by a physician who is duly registered and licensed to practice medicine in the U.S., stating that, in the physicians opinion, the required vaccination for bacterial meningitis would be injurious to your health and well-being OR
  • A state-authorized form indicating students objection to getting the vaccination, for reasons of conscience. Form must be printed from .

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What Are The Symptoms Of Meningococcal Disease

Signs and symptoms of meningococcal disease include sudden onset of fever, stiff neck, headache, nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to light and/or mental confusion. A rash may also be present. Changes in behavior such as confusion, sleepiness, and unresponsiveness are important symptoms of illness. Anyone who has these symptoms should be seen by a healthcare provider immediately. In fatal cases, death can occur in as little as a few hours, even with appropriate medical treatment. Less common presentations include pneumonia and arthritis.

Simultaneous Administration With Other Vaccines

Why do different states require different vaccines for students?

Men-C-C and 4CMenB vaccine may be administered concomitantly with routine childhood vaccines, and Men-C-ACYW vaccine may be administered concomitantly with adolescent and adult age appropriate vaccines. MenB-fHBP can be given concomitantly with quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine meningococcal serogroup A, C, Y, W conjugate vaccine and tetanus toxoid, reduced diphtheria toxoid and acellular pertussis vaccine adsorbed. The concomitant administration of MenB-fHBP has not been studied with other vaccines.

Men-C-ACYW-CRM can be administered with routine paediatric vaccines however, further studies are needed with regard to concomitant administration with pneumococcal 13-valent conjugate vaccine. Co-administration of Men-C-ACYW-CRM and combined tetanus toxoid, reduced diphtheria toxoid and acellular pertussis vaccine may result in a lower immune response to the pertussis antigens than when Tdap vaccine is given alone however, the clinical significance of this is unknown. Tdap vaccine given one month after Men-C-ACYW-CRM induces the strongest immunologic response to pertussis antigens.

If vaccines are to be administered concomitantly with another vaccine, a separate injection site and a different syringe must be used for each injection.

Refer to Timing of Vaccine Administration in Part 1 for additional general information.

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Most Universities Recommend Meningitis B Vaccine For New Students But Few Require It

There are some things that make college great: living in dorms, going to parties and sharing everything with your close friends.

It’s those conditions that also make college students more prone than most to transmittable diseases such as Meningitis B.

But while almost all colleges and universities in Pennsylvania strongly recommend students be vaccinated against the potentially fatal Meningitis B, only a few require it.

All Pennsylvania college students living in on-campus housing are required by state law to get a meningitis vaccine that covers four strains of the disease but doesn’t protect against the B strain. According to the CDC, 60 percent of 16- to 23-year-olds who contract meningitis have the B strain.

In 2018, three Pennsylvania college students contracted Meningitis B, according to Nate Wardle, a spokesman for the state Department of Health.

One was a Penn State student living on its University Park campus, who eventually recovered.

Penn State strongly recommends a Meningitis B vaccine and stocks it at its student health center, but does not require it. The university’s infectious diseases manager, Shelley Haffner, urged new students to get the vaccine anyway.

Its important for college students because of their social and living arrangements. You have a greater risk for any kind of disease, Haffner said. If you can prevent a disease, why not?

A Big 10 school, Penn State doesn’t require the vaccine because it’s not mandated by the CDC.

Who Is At Most Risk For Meningococcal Disease

High-risk groups include anyone with a damaged spleen or whose spleen has been removed, those with persistent complement component deficiency , HIV infection, those traveling to countries where meningococcal disease is very common, microbiologists who routinely work with the bacteria and people who may have been exposed to meningococcal disease during an outbreak. People who live in certain settings such as college dormitories and military housing are also at greater risk of disease from some serotypes.

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‘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.

Meningococcal Disease And College Students

Vaccinations: Why You Need Them For College

Four recent studies provide data concerning the risk for sporadicmeningococcal disease among college students . The earliest of these studies was conducted during the 1990–1991 and 1991–1992 school years. A questionnairedesigned to evaluate risk factors for meningococcal disease among college studentswas sent to 1,900 universities, resulting in a 38% response rate. Forty-three cases of meningococcal disease were reported during the 2 years from colleges with atotal enrollment of 4,393,744 students, for a low overall incidence of 1.0 per 100,000population per year. However, cases of meningococcal disease occurred 9–23 timesmore frequently in students residing in dormitories than in those residing in other typesof accommodations. The low response rate and the inability of the study to controlforother risk factors make these results difficult to interpret.

In a retrospective, cohort study conducted in Maryland for the period 1992–1997,67 cases of meningococcal disease among persons aged 1630 years were identifiedby active, laboratory-based surveillance. Of those cases, 14 were amongstudents attending Maryland colleges, and 11 were among those in 4-year colleges. Theoverall incidence of meningococcal disease in Maryland college students was similar tothe incidence in the U.S. population of persons the same age however, rates of disease were elevated among students living indormitories compared with students living off-campus .

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Preparing Your Child For Vaccines

Getting a vaccine can be stressful for some children. With some preparation and kid-friendly explanation, parents can help to make vaccine visits easier and less stressful. Talk to your health care provider or health unit if you have any questions about the vaccine your child will receive.

Prepare your child before the visit. Be honest. Explain that shots can pinch or sting, but that it wont hurt for long. Tell your child that vaccines are important to keep them healthy.

For younger children

  • Hold your child or cuddle them on your lap.
  • Use distractions like toys, bubbles, and books.

For older children

  • Older children can use distractions like games, books, music, and talking about something unrelated to the vaccination. Deep breathing and/or counting, as well as keeping the arm relaxed and still may help to make the shot easier.
  • For children getting their shots at school clinics, tell them to let the nurse know if they feel nervous about getting vaccinated or if they feel faint or light-headed before, during, or after the vaccination. The clinic staff can help them through the process.

Ask your health care provider or local public health unit about using topical anesthetics .

The Urgent Need To Educate

Meningitis acts quickly, causing inflammation of the brain and spinal cord membranes.

At first, symptoms can appear flu-like in nature, like headaches, body aches, and fever. But if not caught and treated immediately, meningitis can result in death.

Both Stillman and Wukovits lost daughters to meningitis B before the vaccination was released. The disease claimed the lives of each of their daughters within 48 hours after symptoms began to appear.

The desire to keep other parents from ever having to experience the same tragedy is part of why they both say theyre so passionate about raising awareness of the meningitis B vaccine.

Healthcare providers either dont know that there are two types of vaccines, or are not talking to their patients about the MenB vaccine, Stillman told Healthline.

To back up her claim, she pointed to a study in Pediatrics that found 50 percent of pediatricians and 69 percent of family physicians were failing to routinely discuss the MenB vaccination during appointments with 16- to 18-year-olds.

The reason for this lack of discussion isnt quite so simple, though, according to an American Academy of Pediatrics spokesperson, Dr. Chris Nyquist.

As she explained to Healthline, the MenB vaccine isnt being pushed as hard as other vaccinations right now because its still so new.

Nyquist also pointed out the vaccines high price tag a cost that isnt covered by some healthcare plans.

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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.

Should Community Colleges Require Meningitis Vaccine For Admission

Meningitis Vaccine Age Requirement for College Students Set To Drop

Grace ChenTexas community collegesThe Schanbaum/Williams Law

The new law was named for two Texas residents who contracted bacterial meningitis on college campuses. Effective January 1, 2012, the law requires all college students under the age of 30 to receive a meningitis vaccination at least 10 days prior to starting classes at any public or private institution of higher education. According to the Sacramento Bee, the law applies to all students heading to college for the first time or transferring from another institution. It also applies to students who have taken a semester break or more before returning to the college campus. Only students that can show proof of a meningitis vaccination within the past five years will be exempt from the requirement.

About Meningitis Vaccinations and College Enrollment

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Whats This I Hear About Free Tuition For College Students Who Are Vaccinated

Thank Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine for that. In an effort to boost vaccination rates, Ohio created a lottery for people who receive COVID-19 shots. Adults can win $1 million dollars, but young people ages 12 to 17 could win a full-ride scholarship to a public college in the state.

Cuomo created a similar lottery in New York for 50 people between the ages of 12 through 17. The winnings will cover tuition and other costs at any college in the City University of New York or State University of New York systems. Similar incentives have been adopted in Colorado, Delaware and Oregon.

Submitting Proof Of Vaccination

Do not submit your vaccination proof to Undergraduate Admissions or the Student Health Center.

Texas State uses Magnus Health SMR for managing compliance with the meningitis vaccination requirement. New students planning to enroll at Texas State must submit proof of meningitis vaccination directly to Magnus Health SMR. 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 the documents and verifying compliance with the vaccination requirement. Acceptable evidence of vaccination may include any of the following:

  • A document bearing the signature or stamp of the physician or his/her designee or public health personnel . Records without a signature or stamp will not be approved.
    • An official immunization record from a government health authority .
    • An official immunization record received from school officials, including a record from another state .
    • Students using a pharmacy should download and provide the pharmacist with the generic immunization form available on the Magnus website, once they have paid their processing fee, to ensure they receive an approvable document from the pharmacist . H-E-B customers should request their Vaccine Administration Consent Form for submission to Magnus.
    • All records must be in English to be approved.

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