By Donace Wilkinson
Starting spring 2012, all students who enroll at MSU will have to get health shots.
A state mandate effective Jan. 1 will make Texas the first U.S. state to require all new and transfer students younger than 30 years old to be immunized against meningococcal meningitis.
The new law is an extension of the Jamie Schanbaum Act of 2009. Schanbaum, a University of Texas student, contracted meningitis in 2008. Nicolis Williams, a former Texas A&M freshman, died of the disease in February.
Dr. Keith Williamson, university physician, said meningococcal meningitis is “pretty rare, but outbreaks happen. When it happens it can kill many people.”
About 1,400 to 3,000 Americans get the disease annually. About 10 percent of those cases result in death.
The disease is caused by the inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. The inflammation is usually caused by an infection of the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Meningococcal meningitis can be fatal and should always be viewed as a medical emergency.
According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, college students who live in group homes are among the people most at risk of becoming infected.
“College students’ risks double that of the rest of the population,” Williamson said.
In previous years, immunization was pushed for students who lived in the dorms.
Now it applies for all students.
“We cannot let them enroll unless they have been immunized,” Williamson said.
Dr. Karen Polvado, chair of the Wilson School of Nursing, said nursing students never had a choice in the matter.
“All nursing students have to be vaccinated. It’s important to have immunizations being up-to-date, when you think about all the things nurses are, they even go to [work at] a hospital, we make them get immunized. We don’t let them in until they do.”
“College students in a dorm setting should really get immunized,” Polvado said, “because students live together and share things like cigarettes and food.”
The modes of transmission include the exchange of saliva through activities such as kissing, sharing drinking containers or utensils, smoking, brushing your teeth, or being coughed or sneezed on.
“Certain conditions need to be present for you to get sick,” Polvado said.
Stress and a poor diet are two leading factors in contracting the disease.
“Are college students stressed? Yes. Do they eat healthy? No.” she said.
“People who are under great amounts of stress have weakened immune systems and are more susceptible,” Polvado said. “If you exercise and eat well, your body may be in a better condition to fight the infection.”
The symptoms of meningococcal meningitis include a stiff neck, drowsiness, nausea, seizures, high fever, rashes or purple patches on the skin, hemorrhage, light sensitivity, confusion, and severe headaches.
The CDC says symptoms can appear quickly but typically develop within three to seven days after exposure.
Williamson said because some symptoms are flu-like, the disease may be hard to recognize before it is too late.
She stated a carrier of the disease may not have the symptoms but can still spread the disease.
In severe cases, death may occur within eight to 24 hours of experiencing the symptoms.
In non-fatal cases, long-term disabilities such as kidney failure, hearing loss, limb damage or loss, gangrene, convulsions, coma, and/or brain damage may result.
Students age 29 and younger are encouraged to get immunized. The vaccine is considered to be safe and effective. There are no side effects except for a little soreness of the muscle from having gotten the shot.
The cut-off age for immunization is 30.
Polvado said the older you are, the higher chances you have of being immune, having developed antibodies to fight off the infection. Younger people are more vulnerable and more likely to be infected, since they have not developed those antibodies.