Drexel student has died - Meningitis suspected

<p>Our pediatricians routinely vaccinate for meningitis and HPV. I understand that some families are anti-vaccine, in general, but that’s certainly not the norm. Why are so few medical practices recommending them, and shouldn’t school districts be requiring meningitis vaccines? They require all kinds of vaccines before you can enroll your child in kindergarten where we live. </p>

<p><a href=“http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/mening/who-vaccinate.htm”>http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/mening/who-vaccinate.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>My niece was 12 and she was throwing up, so her mother took her to the ER because they did not have health insurance. They diagnosed meningitis pretty quickly and got her on IV antibiotics. I really do believe that if she had health insurance, she probably would have gone to the family doctor and been told “just a stomach bug” and be sent home to die.</p>

<p>I think NJ requires the meningitis vaccine, twice I believe. I know that when I was in college in the 80s, they made kids get the MMR again because there were measles outbreaks.</p>

<p>Very interesting, rhandco. No doubt Jenny McCarthy and the anti-vaccine brigade will conclude that it was NJ’s required meningitis immunizations that led to that outbreak at Princeton earlier in the school year. [/facetious]</p>

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<p>Sigh, the one thing my 10th-grader said she does NOT like about living in Spain is that people rarely wash their hands! They don’t do it after using the restroom, before eating, etc. She’s already gotten a couple of colds. Now she’s trying to sanitize her hands very frequently.</p>

<p>I believe that all college kids in the US have to be vaccinated against meningitis.
Stop thinking about it - it happens, but it is rare. People die in car accidents every day but we still drive.</p>

<p>MaineLonghorn - I see your comment as very chauvinistic. My daughter has been to Spain several times and she lived to tell about it :wink: </p>

<p>The vaccine does not protect against every type of bacterial meningitis. It does not protect against viral meningitis at all.</p>

<p>My son had encephalitis as a senior in HS. He was playing football at 10PM and in a coma by midnight. Luckily, viral meningitis and encephalitis does not usually kill people (although you can suffer brain injury from them). If your child has symptoms of a CN infection they need to get to the ER.</p>

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<p>Your belief is wrong. No Michigan universities that I know of require a meningitis vaccine in order to be enrolled or live in the dorms. </p>

<p>I <em>wish</em> it was required.</p>

<p>ML, that’s sad. I hope your D takes good care of herself </p>

<p>approx. 15 states have a mandate for the vaccine AND actually require proof.</p>

<p>PA is one of those, as is NJ. MI is not. My state, California, requires the vaccine, but does not require proof. (In essence, they prefer to look the other way?)</p>

<p><a href=“MenACWY Vaccine Mandates for Colleges and Universities”>http://www.immunize.org/laws/menin.asp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Wow, I’m actually surprised it’s that low. I’d have bet about half. </p>

<p>At the very, very least I wish they would require it for anyone living in school housing (apartments, dorms, etc) </p>

<p>Our pediatrician vaccinates at age 11. The booster is given at age 16. I don’t know if the boy had been vaccinated but the vaccine does not cover all strains. </p>

<p>Here are the symptoms for Meningitis, from the CDC website. More info is available on that site as well.</p>

<p><a href=“Signs and Symptoms of Meningococcal Disease | CDC”>http://www.cdc.gov/meningococcal/about/symptoms.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>@bluebayou since when did California require the vaccine? When I took my kids for their teen immunizations they were just starting to ‘suggest’ it, and I actually had to ask for it, and it wasn’t covered by insurance as a ‘required vaccine’. I only got the one I had heard of though, and I understand there are two we have and one only other countries have (which Princeton and UCSB now have.) I’d like all three.</p>

<p>^^the link I posted shows that California adopted the policy for those living on campus in 2002. (Dunno how accurate the link is.)</p>

<p>edited to add: according to the link from UCSB, perhaps California only requires counseling about meningitis…:</p>

<p><a href=“http://studenthealth.sa.ucsb.edu/CMSMedia/Documents/CDPH%20IZ%20Colleges.pdf”>http://studenthealth.sa.ucsb.edu/CMSMedia/Documents/CDPH%20IZ%20Colleges.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>@bluebayou thanks, I guess since my kids were in middle school at the time, it wasn’t on their doctor’s horizon. </p>

<p>Update from Philly.com: </p>

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<p>Read more at <a href=“CDC: Drexel student died from meningitis strain seen in Princeton outbreak”>CDC: Drexel student died from meningitis strain seen in Princeton outbreak;

<p>They aired episode a while back menignicoccocal disease on discovery, how it can kill you without causing menignitis. I had viral meningitis from zoster. it was not a pleasent experience. bacterial is more dangerous, because they release toxins that causes alot of damage, and also massive immune response also causes damage as well.</p>

<p>I have some vague recollection of S having to have the meningitis vaccine either for CTY or for college. The aspect of this that is most worrisome to me is that a young person living in a dorm or other communal situation without a roommate could easily be severely ill with this kind of disease and not be found until it is too late. I’m sure if S didn’t come out of his room for a day people might wonder where he was, but it would take a lot longer for anyone to become worried enough to raise the alarm.</p>