Kids Leaving For College?

What is Meningitis? Meningitis is the inflammation of the tissues which cover the brain and spinal cord. Bacterial meningitis is more serious. While meningococcal disease is the main cause of bacterial meningitis, there are many other types including pneumococcal, Hib, Group B streptococcal and others.

What is Meningococcal Septicaemia? Meningococcal septicaemia is a type of blood poisoning which is caused by the same bacteria that causes bacterial meningitis. It is the more life-threatening form of the disease.

With septicaemia, the bacteria release toxins into the blood which break down the walls of the blood vessels allowing blood to leak out under the skin. This leaking causes marks on the skin - a rash of red or brownish pin prick spots which develop into purple bruises, blood blisters or blood spots. Septicaemia can make you very ill because it also reduces the amount of blood reaching vital organs such as the liver and kidneys.

Meningococcal Meningitis in College Students & It`s Causes:
Meningococcal meningitis is caused by the bacterium Neisseria meningitidis, a leading cause of meningitis and/or blood poisoning in teenagers and young adults in the United States. How common is meningococcal meningitis? • Meningococcal meningitis strikes about 3,000 Americans each year causing more than 300 deaths annually. It is estimated that 100 to 125 cases of meningococcal meningitis occur annually on college campuses and 5 to 15 students die as a result.

Facts About Meningococcal Meningitis Meningococcal meningitis is a rare but potentially fatal bacterial infection. The disease is most commonly expressed as meningitis, an attack of the brain and spinal cord, or meningococcemia, a presence of bacteria in the blood. It can result in permanent brain damage, hearing loss, learning disability, organ failure, loss of limbs or death.

Certain college students have been found to be at increased risk for meningococcal meningitis. In fact, freshmen living in dormitories are found to have a sixfold increased risk for the disease. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now recommends college students, particularly freshmen living in dormitories, learn more about meningococcal meningitis and consider vaccination. They also recommend other college students who wish to reduce their risk for the disease can also be vaccinated.

Following are some commonly asked questions and answers about meningococcal meningitis, the risk for college students and vaccination:

What causes meningococcal meningitis?
Meningococcal meningitis is caused by the bacterium Neisseria meningitidis, a leading cause of meningitis and/or blood poisoning in teenagers and young adults in the United States.

How common is meningococcal meningitis?
Meningococcal meningitis strikes about 3,000 Americans each year causing more than 300 deaths annually.

It is estimated that 100 to 125 cases of meningococcal meningitis occur annually on college campuses and 5 to 15 students die as a result.

How is meningococcal meningitis spread? Meningococcal meningitis is transmitted through air droplets and direct contact with infected persons.

It occurs most often in late winter and early spring—at a time when most college students are away at school.

What are the symptoms of meningococcal meningitis?
Symptoms of meningococcal meningitis are often misdiagnosed as something less serious.

Symptoms can resemble the flu and may include high fever, headache, stiff neck, confusion, nausea, vomiting, exhaustion and/or a rash.

If not detected early, the disease can progress, often within hours of the first signs of symptoms, and result in rapid death.

Who is at risk for meningococcal meningitis? Studies show 15 to 24 year olds are at greater risk of getting meningococcal meningitis, and in recent years there has been an increase in the number of college outbreaks.

Certain lifestyle factors common among college students appear to be linked to the disease, including communal living (such as dormitories), bar patronage, smoking and irregular sleep patterns.

Recent data also show students living in dormitories, particularly freshmen, have a sixfold-increased risk for the disease.

IS MENINGITIS CONTAGIOUS?
Yes, some forms are bacterial meningitis are contagious. The bacteria are spread through the exchange of respiratory and throat secretions (i.e., coughing, kissing). Fortunately, none of the bacteria that cause meningitis are as contagious as things like the common cold or the flu, and they are not spread by casual contact or by simply breathing the air where a person with meningitis has been.

What is the CDC`s vaccination recommendation for meningococcal meningitis?

CDC now recommends college students, particularly freshmen living in dormitories, be educated about meningococcal meningitis and the potential benefits of vaccination. The recommendation further states immunization should be provided or made easily available to those who wish to reduce their risk for the disease.

Other undergraduate students wishing to reduce their risk for meningococcal meningitis can also choose to be vaccinated.

How effective is the meningococcal meningitis vaccine?

The meningococcal meningitis vaccine is available against four types of the bacteria that cause meningococcal meningitis in the United States, serogroups A, C, Y and W-135.

These four serogroups account for nearly two-thirds of the cases of meningococcal meningitis in the college-age population.

The vaccine can be used in adults and children greater than two years old.

The vaccine is 85 to 100 percent effective in preventing meningococcal meningitis in serogroups A, C, Y and W-135 in older children and adults.

Protection lasts approximately three to five years—the length of time most students are away at college.

The meningococcal meningitis vaccine costs between $55 and $75.

The following is a plea from a college student who was very lucky and survived meningitis: Did you ever wake up in a warm bed, just back from winter break, and wish you could stay there for the rest of the semester? Be careful what you wish for!

On Jan. 18, I`d finished walking my dog, Sam, when I got sucked into going to the mall. By the time we left the mall, not more than two hours later, I had chills and my muscles had begun to feel really tight. When I got home, I wrote the chills off to a bad fever and attributed muscle soreness to the previous day`s visit to the gym, a rare occurrence for` me. I fed my dog and went to bed hoping to wake up having beaten the flu.

Ten days later, I woke up in a hospital bed. I vaguely remember waking up that night and beginning to vomit. I know I was vomiting pretty frequently for a while - about every five minutes to be exact. I know I had some diarrhea and that I was still too hot with the window open and only my boxers on. I have no recollection of the next nine days, but I`ve been filled in with the details.

At 6 a.m. the following day, the sounds of moaning and my dog flipping out woke my roommates. They wrapped me up in a blanket, shoved me m a car and drove me to the hospital. By 6:30 a.m., they had checked me into the emergency room.

Getting me into the hospital required the help of staff members to get me from the parking lot, where I was deliriously dancing between falls. Later, I was told that if my roommates had put their pillows over their heads and waited another 15 minutes to find me, they would have found me dead. This points out how much I owe them.

After I was admitted, my parents were called. After four hours of driving, they were greeted at the hospital by six doctors and two chaplains. They were told that the doctors didn`t expect me to live.

The massive killing of the bacteria left my blood full of toxins and dead bacteria. This caused a condition called septicemia, which later led to the amputation of both of my legs below the knees and the tips of six of my fingers. The fact that they were able to save my life, my brain, my ears, my nose, my sight, and my hearing is truly a miracle.

After my amputations, people would come to visit me and, as they smiled at me, I could see in their eyes that they felt they were looking at a travesty. The truth is, that while I don`t have many fingernails left, my hands do everything I need them to do except play my guitar. And although I don`t have feet or ankles anymore, I should be able to do everything I did before, although in some cases, perhaps not as well.

While I was in the hospital, I had many interesting experiences. Some experiences were too explicit to detail here, so I`ll just list them as "loss of dignity." I got the chance to experience almost every test the hospital has to offer, including eating radioactive food.

The experience I will remember most, is the wonderful support I received from my family, friends, the hospital staff, complete strangers, and yes, especially from Lehigh students and staff alike. Lehigh`s administration handled everything more sensitively and professionally than could be expected.

As soon as it became obvious that I would not return for the semester, the paper work was taken care of to save my financial aid and tuition for the fall semester, without any hassle to my parents. The Lehigh chaplain visited often, and probably saved my parents` sanity while I was very ill.

The support from my close friends has been overwhelming. There were some that came every day and stayed through thick and thin. I received cards and letters from strangers, professors, and from kids I thought hated me. Thank you to everyone who visited me, prayed for me, and helped with donations to my parents.

If you see me, (I`ll be the guy with the big black dog) please stop and say "Hi,"... This article by David Biddle `00 originally appeared in Lehigh University`s Brown and White. Biddle urged readers to get the meningitis vaccine to prevent another tragedy from occurring, because inspite of all this suffering, David considers himself one of the `lucky ones` because he lived following his bout with meningitis.

******

WE, at the Cherry Hill Connection, beg all parents to get their kids immunized before leaving for college, ours were, and so were all our friend`s kids. Kathy Haughwout

Article continues below

---

advertisement

---

Author: The Cherry Hill Connection