<p>This is from the following website, related to a Nova television program I saw last year. I actually taped the program and had my older son and his best friend watch it -- this is not a disease to take lightly. In fact, I recall a post last fall where someone (Cangel?) said something like, "Rash + fever = emergency!"
[quote]
Even people familiar with meningococcal disease are astonished at the rapidity with which this rare though deadly illness can ravage the body. Within hours, patients can go from perfectly healthy to mortally ill.
<p>Both of my kids received the newer vaccine, called Menactra, last summer. I believe that there is a strain for which there is no vaccine, but I feel better about both of them having the vaccine.</p>
<p>Yes SJ, that was me, rash + fever = emergency. Not all rashes with fevers are meningococcal meningitis, but all should be checked out. Not only can the disease move swiftly, you can develop deadly complications without stiff neck, so the "classic" symptom that most people associate with meningitis can be missing. The bacterium causes 2 conditions - meningitis and a type of "blood poisoning", sepsis that leads to circulatory collapse. A person can have both or either.</p>
<p>I know there is a lot of fear about vaccines, and some people do get GB and other complications from vaccinations. But at least with GB you have a chance of recovery. Not everyone dies of MM, but in my 20 years of medicine, I can only remember a couple of instances where a patient looked like they would recover completely unscathed from full-blown MM. Most index cases just don't get diagnosed soon enough to completely recover.</p>
<p>Meningitis is certainly no disease to scoff at. I am quite aware of that. When I made my decision, I wasn't really aware about G-B. I just felt that a 4 in 10,000 chance of contracting a fatal disease was not worth paying for it and more importantly, getting stuck with a needle. I really despise them. I am more likely to get into a car accident than contract this disease.</p>
<p>Neverborn, it's great that you have avoided meningitis so far. Almost all college students will. But for those very few who DO contract this disease, the results are just horrible. I've heard the phrase "Healthy to dead in 24 hours or less" with regard to this. And those who don't die may suffer such devastating injuries that life is never the same. Permanent brain damage, amputations, coma --- the list goes on. If you were my child, I'd have made sure you had the vaccine if I had to drag you kicking and screaming to the doctor. I wish you'd reconsider.</p>
<p>This vaccine specifically protects against meningococcus meningitis...one of the most deadly. I've been trying to get our pediatrician to give it to my D for 2 years and she refused "until she's college age." You bet your bippy I'm carrying my D over there to get it before she heads off to college in the fall. I've taken care of too many patients with meningococcal meningitis who did not fare well to let her skip it. </p>
<p>My very first task as a full-fledged internist in the Air Force was to do CPR on an 8 month old who died in my arms of meningococcal meningitis. And had to take antibiotic prophylaxis afterwards to keep myself from getting the disease...turned my tears and my contact lenses orange. Most recently, I cared for a college age aerobics instructor who eventually survived meningococcal meningitis, but not until she'd had all 4 extremities amputated and a kidney transplant. My only wish is that the vaccine was 100% effective, but it is not.</p>
<p>You can go from healthy to dead in 5 seconds crossing the street. I've witnessed car accidents and bike accidents feet from me - it didn't make me stop driving or anything like that. It's a calculated risk - I feel that the number is statistically insignificant to warrant me getting a needle.</p>
<p>sorry to post here but im a student.
my school san diego state offered to give me the shot or i had to show proof i had taken it recently. im having them give me the shot.</p>
<p>Get the vaccine, it is necessary! The is a serious preventable disease that is on the rise on campuses especially with freshman and first time student. My D's friend was hospitalized, on a ventilator and feeding tube less than 24 hours after hanging out with my D and feeling fine. His parents were told he may not make it through the night. Thank God after an extended stay in the hospital he has recovered with a few minor porblems. My D had to be treated (orange tears and other fluids!) Dont look at the needle and suck it up and get the vaccine!</p>
<p>4 in 10,000 is not statistically significant to me, especially when non-college freshmen are 2 in 10,000. The scaremongers talking about the chance being "200%" higher are being dishonest.</p>
<p>So, neverborn, did you also refuse the vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis? The purpose of these vaccines is not just to protect a single individual against a single "deadly" or even highly morbid disease. Anther larger purpose includes preventing epidemics of these diseases in close environments so the disease prevalence does not increase from 1 in 10,000 to 1 in 100, or higher. How in heavens name do you think smallpox was reduced from a common plague-like entity to being nearly non-existent on this earth?</p>
<p>So, go ahead, don't get vaccinated. Perhaps you'll win a Darwin award! (This is an "award" given to individuals who succumb to their own stupidity, thus improving the overall gene pool). But hole up in you own home, take all of your classes by internet or correspondence, and have no contact with any other college student. Because, without the vaccine, you can carry and spread the meningococcus bacteria without being sick yourself.</p>
<p>Quiltguru -
I found it interesting that your ped refuses to give your dau the shot until she is college age, because that is what our family doc says too. Our doc just said it will "give them more time to work out the bugs" in the vaccine.</p>
<p>Have you decided to go along with your peds opinion, or will you get the vaccine for your dau from some other practitioner?</p>
<p>Or, quiltguru, I'll be fine. Let's make a bet. I bet you $100.00 that I won't win a Darwin award. That's a 9,996 in 10,000 chance. Want to take the bet? :D</p>
<p>The other vaccines are required for college presence, first off (unlike meningitis, which while it is a threat, it is still VERY rare so it is not required), and second - I had no input on those vaccines anyway.</p>
<p>"neverborn," i got the shot today at school, and it's basically a 5 second shot and it barely hurts. Even the girls in my school said it wasn't painful.</p>
<p>You're really too chicken if that's the reason u won't take it.</p>
<p>College I'm going to, Univ. Of Illinois requires the shot to be taken. In fact, the meningitis problem is much more prevalent in midwestern colleges.</p>
<p>I am not opposed to vaccines but I urge parents to make sure your children are healthy when they are vaccinated. Although he was not sick, our son did not feel well when he was vaccinated with the MMR vaccine several years ago. He developed Guillain-Barre Syndrome and was paralyzed (and hospitalized) for 6 months. Fortunately, he fully recovered but it took 2 years and he will be at risk for post-GBS complications for the rest of his life.</p>
<p>The point of my post was not to validate your pre-existing decision to avoid vaccinations. You are afraid of needles. That is not a logical reason to avoid vaccinations. </p>
<p>What if you could be vaccinated with a nasal spray instead of a needle? You can already get a flu vaccine in a nasal spray, without using a needle. You need to separate your fear of needles from your decision whether to vaccinate. Please don't use our son's experience to avoid vaccines. Instead, use this information wisely and be sure you are healthy if you do get vaccinated.</p>