Dive Brief:
- A panel of health experts convened by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted 14-1 to recommend limited use of a new meningitis B vaccine in high school and college students.
- Almost a dozen students at UC Santa Barbara and Princeton were infected with the disease in 2013, which prompted a conversation about whether students should get vaccinated to protect against it.
- The health panel’s vote means the CDC will not specifically recommend the meningitis B vaccine for all people between the ages of 16 and 23, but will instead leave the decision up to the discretion of their doctors.
Dive Insight:
Meningitis is caused by a bacterial infection that can leave victims with severe brain and nerve damage if not treated right away. There are five strains of bacteria that lead to the disease, meningitis B being one of them. According to health statistics, bacterial meningitis is most common among young children and those ages 15 to 19. Since the 2013 outbreaks at Princeton and UC Santa Barbara, there have not been other high-profile cases of the disease.
School campuses are particularly vulnerable to disease contagion as so many people are living and working in close quarters. The 2009 swine flu pandemic also caused concern on campuses, prompting school officials to advertise targeted health safety reminders.
