College Students & Meningitis

Meningococcal disease (meningitis) is an infection of tissue surrounding the brain and spinal cord, caused by a virus or bacteria. It is a communicable disease. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), college students living in dormitories are at a high risk for contracting meningitis.

A Communicable Disease

• Meningococcal disease is spread by bacteria through close personal contact, primarily through saliva. Common methods of infection include sharing water bottles, eating utensils and cigarettes, kissing, or being in close proximity to an infected individual as they are sneezing or coughing.

Bacterial versus Viral

• Viral meningitis is less severe and more treatable compared with bacterial meningitis. In addition, the effects of bacterial meningitis are far more severe than viral meningitis, resulting in hearing loss, learning disabilities and even permanent brain damage.

Symptoms

• Meningitis symptoms include drowsiness, headache, high fever, seizures, sensitivity to light, a stiff neck and vomiting. These may or may not all occur at once.

Risk Factors

• The close living quarters of a dormitory combined with high risk behaviors, such as exchange of saliva, exposure to cigarette smoke and alcohol consumption, place college students at a higher risk compared with other individuals of the same age who are not attending college.

Laws

• Massachusetts is one of many states that require all newly enrolled full time students attending a boarding school, college or university and living in a dormitory to receive the meningococcal vaccine.