<p>D2’s big state U requires proof of the vaccine before they will allow you to register for classes.</p>
<p>When I was in nursing school, I had a patient who contracted meningitis. He got so ill that he began throwing blood clots to his extremities (a syndrome called DIC). It was horrifying. Every day I showed up for clinical, he had a new amputation. First fingers, then toes, then a foot, and so on. He did survive, but his young life was forever altered.</p>
<p>Glad this hasn’t devolved into an anti-vax thread. Vaccines save millions and millions of lives. Okay off my soapbox now.</p>
<p>Just heard on the news that a junior from University of Oregon died on Friday of Bacterial Meningitis. She had it freshman year as well, but recovered. The news says she had a genetic protein deficiency that might have contributed - or made it more likely to get it again. She was vaccinated before the first instance, but not for the strain she got. They don’t know the strain she got this time.</p>
<p>Yes, Emaheevul07, if you are 26 or under, I would highly recommend that you get the vaccine (Menactra as coureur has suggested). While you are past the period that is typically of highest risk, I heard last year from my aunt that the son of a friend of hers had died of meningitis during his first year in graduate school. I might extend the upper age limit by a few years, even–in any case where you may be in close proximity to large groups of people.</p>
<p>So why is menactra contraindicated for adults over 55 and children 2-10?</p>
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<p>My family knew his family, but I don’t remember ever meeting him. I live only a few miles from him and a close co-worker lives just a few doors down. So sad. </p>
<p>A young woman died in my dorm earlier this year from this. Gave us all a terrible scare when they weren’t sure what it was. Our dorm is really small and many people went and got tested after that. They also offered vaccines for free at a local clinic.</p>
<p>Both my dad and a close friend had this when I was younger. I remember my friend having it because she was in the hospital on Halloween and I went trick-or-treating for her. No one believed me, so I just gave her my candy but I wasn’t allowed in the hospital. My mother made sure that I got the vaccine because of these too-close calls.</p>
<p>I wonder if this is on the rise or if it’s just making the news more often.</p>
<p>There was a huge meningitis outbreak when my parents were children. They were both hospitalized. It must have been viral meningitis as that seems more contagious and less severe.</p>
<p>Last outbreak seems to have been about ten years ago & that was bacterial.
But we currently are experiencing a whooping cough epidemic.
<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/health/policy/whooping-cough-epidemic-hits-washington-state.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/health/policy/whooping-cough-epidemic-hits-washington-state.html</a>
But my kids are vaccinated for everthin’. Even Japanese encephalitis.</p>
<p>I googled “Menactra Package Insert” and got what appears to be an FDA site. It says that Menactra is approved for children 9 months of age and older. </p>
<p>It is <em>not</em> recommended for pregnant women and nursing mothers.</p>
<p>I think that the reason that it is not approved for adults 55 and over is that studies have not been done with people in this age group, to establish its effectiveness.</p>
<p>ek, I heard about that. I thought whooping caugh was a required vaccination before enrolling in schools, unlike meningitis. </p>
<p>I’m another vaccinated for everything. Comes with international travel :/</p>
<p>Bacterial meningitis is a meaningless term; you have to know the type of meningitis. The kind that was around when our parents were kids was probably Hib meningitis, or perhaps pneumococcal meningitis. The three most common types of bacterial meningitis all have vaccines against them which have greatly reduced the incidence of these types of meningitis-- Hib first, then pneumococcal (Prevnar is the vaccine), then meningococcal (Menactra and now Menveo are the vaccines). Meningococcal meningitis is the type that has higher incidence in college students and military recruits (any population of young people living in close proximity). We will soon be vaccinating little kids with Menactra since we’re already requiring a 2nd dose of meningococcal vaccine. That is a good thing. </p>
<p>Whooping cough is rearing its head because there are many teens and adults who are not vaccinated, so their immunity is waning. They don’t die from pertussis, but they become the reservoir from which infants are infected and die. California, Washington are seeing an uptick in infant deaths from pertussis. Teens and adults— get the tdap booster! The “tetanus booster” now includes pertussis— important because older kids and adults don’t die from pertussis, but it’s certainly no fun to get, plus then you protect babies and old people as well.</p>
<p>The Uw site also says menactra is not recommended for children 2-10.
Personally I trust the Uw more than the FDA.</p>
<p>I’m not actually arguing for vaccinating 2 year olds with Menactra! And certainly not on a routine basis. </p>
<p>The peak incidence of meningitis appears to be about age 18. QMP was vaccinated with Menactra at 16, when going off to a large summer program. The CDC information about the vaccine is here: [Updated</a> Recommendations for Use of Meningococcal Conjugate Vaccines — Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), 2010](<a href=“http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6003a3.htm]Updated”>Updated Recommendations for Use of Meningococcal Conjugate Vaccines --- Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), 2010)</p>
<p>I think the key point is that immune response falls off, so that only about 55% of recipients are still protected 5 years after vaccination. The fraction still protected after 10 years is almost certainly lower. So it would make sense to time the vaccine at a point where there is a high probability of continued protection at age 18. Vaccination in the age 2-10 range would not accomplish this.</p>
<p>I am not a physician! Also, people may have special circumstances that work pro/con for vaccination at certain ages, and it is best to consult your own physician. So, I’m not really contradicting emeraldkity4.</p>
<p>The old meningococcal vaccine (menomune) only lasted for about four years, so we only used it when kids left for college. It wasn’t very good (didn’t protect against enough of the types of meningococcal strains). Menactra lasts for at least 5-10 years (it was licensed in 2005 or thereabouts) and so we’re seeing data now about how long it lasts. In early studies it lasted up to 20 years. So the FDA and AAP started to recommend the second dose to keep immunity up after recommending the first dose at age 11. It’s still good for most people well after 5-10 years. </p>
<p>The UW site gets its data from the FDA. It was not recommended for ages 2-10 only because the studies weren’t complete yet, NOT because it’s “bad” for kids ages 2-10. The incidence of the disease is less in younger kids but is not insignificant in that age group. I’m confident that eventually the vaccine will be recommended for little kids, with a booster probably at school entry, and then data will have to tell whether another booster would be needed. After two doses, the immunity will not necessarily wane. That’s what the science will have to tell us. Two doses of varivax, MMR, Hep A, etc is enough for someone long term. Only the tdap seems to need regular boosting. We’ll see.</p>
<p>My son was first vaccinated for meningitis when his summer camp started requiring it. I think he was about ten. They he had a second vaccination before he left for college last fall.</p>
<p>I was told that Menactra lasted about 10 years. On the other hand, the data in the table on the CDC site are showing only about 55% protection after 5 years (if I’m reading the table correctly). The number of people in the study of persistence of protection after 5 years was quite small–124 all together, counting both those who were vaccinated at 2-10 and 11-18. That was in 2010, though, so perhaps there are better data now.</p>