Meningitis
What is Bacterial Meningitis?
Meningitis is an infection of the fluid of a person's spinal cord and the fluid that surrounds the brain. Bacterial meningitis can be quite severe and may result in brain damage, hearing loss, or learning disability.
What are the symptoms of Meningitis?
High fever, headache, and stiff neck are common symptoms of meningitis in anyone over the age of 2 years. These symptoms can develop over several hours, or they may take 1 to 2 days. Other symptoms may include nausea, vomiting, discomfort looking into bright lights, confusion, and sleepiness. As the disease progresses, patients of any age may have seizures.
How is Meningitis treated?
Bacterial meningitis can be treated with a number of effective antibiotics. It is important, however, that treatment be started early in the course of the disease. Appropriate antibiotic treatment of most common types of bacterial meningitis should reduce the risk of dying from meningitis to below 15%, although the risk is higher among the elderly.
Is bacterial Meningitis contagious?
Some forms of 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. People in the same household or day-care center, or anyone with direct contact with a patient's oral secretions (such as a boyfriend or girlfriend) would be considered at increased risk of acquiring the infection.
What should you do if you think you have been exposed to Meningitis?
If you think you’ve been exposed to Meningitis, and you do not have a fever, you should go to the Health Center if you’re a student or to your primary healthcare provider right away. If you have a fever, you should go to the nearest emergency room.
Further Meningitis information from
The American College Health Association
Vaccination Recommendations
Strains/Serogroups
Transmission and Symptoms
Persons at Risk
Vaccination
American College Health Association
Overview of Meningococcal Disease
Meningococcal disease is a potentially life-threatening bacterial infection
that can lead to meningococcal meningitis, an inflammation of the membranes
surrounding the brain and spinal cord, or meningococcal septicemia, an
infection of the blood.
Meningococcal disease, caused by bacteria called
Neisseria meningitidis, is the
leading cause of bacterial meningitis in older children and young adults in
the United States. It strikes 1,400 to 3,000 Americans each year and is
responsible for approximately 150 to 300 deaths.
Adolescents and young adults account for nearly 30 percent of all cases of
meningitis in the United States. In addition, approximately 100 to 125 cases
of meningococcal disease occur on college campuses each year, and five to 15
students will die as a result. Evidence shows approximately 70 to 80 percent
of cases in the college age group are caused by serogroup C, Y, or W-135,
which are potentially vaccine-preventable.
Vaccination Recommendations for College Students
On February 10, 2005, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)
for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) voted to recommend
that all incoming college freshmen living in dormitories be vaccinated
against meningococcal disease. The ACIP also recommended vaccination for all
adolescents at high school entry and during pre-adolescent health care
visits (11 to 12 years old).
The American College Health Association (ACHA) issued similar immunization
recommendations for all first-year students living in residence halls. The
ACIP and ACHA recommendations further state that other college students
under 25 years of age may choose to receive meningococcal vaccination to
reduce their risk for the disease.
ACHA and ACIP recommendations, coupled with the availability of a new
vaccine that may provide longer duration of protection, will help increase
rates of immunization against meningococcal disease and will give college
health professionals the guidance needed to help protect college students
against meningococcal disease.
Meningococcal Disease Caused by Five Strains/Serogroups
Five predominant strains or serogroups of
N. meningitidis account for most
cases of meningococcal disease. These are A, B, C, Y, and W-135. The
currently available vaccine protects against four of the five strains (A, C,
Y, and W-135), and evidence shows approximately 70 to 80 percent of cases in
the college age group are caused by serogroup C, Y or W-135, which are
potentially vaccine-preventable. No vaccine is available for widespread
vaccination against serogroup B.
Transmission and Symptoms of the Disease
Meningococcal disease is contagious and progresses very rapidly. The
bacteria are spread person-to-person through the air by respiratory droplets
(e.g., coughing, sneezing). The bacteria also can be transmitted through
direct contact with an infected person, such as oral contact with shared
items like cigarettes or drinking glasses, and through kissing.
Meningococcal bacteria attach to the mucosal lining of the nose and throat,
where they can multiply. When the bacteria penetrate the mucosal lining and
enter the bloodstream, they move quickly throughout the body and can cause
damage to various organs.
Many people in a population can be a carrier of meningococcal bacteria (up
to 11 percent) in the nose and back of the throat, and usually nothing
happens to a person other than acquiring natural antibodies.
Symptoms of meningococcal disease often resemble those of the flu or other
minor febrile illness, making it sometimes difficult to diagnose, and may
include high fever, severe headache, stiff neck, rash, nausea, vomiting,
fatigue, and confusion. Students who notice these symptoms - in themselves,
friends, or others - especially if the symptoms are unusually sudden or
severe, should contact their college health center or local hospital.
If not treated early, meningitis can lead to death or permanent
disabilities. One in five of those who survive will suffer from long-term
side effects, such as brain damage, hearing loss, seizures, or limb
amputation.
Persons at Risk for the Disease, Including College Students
Meningococcal disease can affect people at any age. Infants are at the
highest risk for getting the disease. Disease rates fall through later
childhood but begin to rise again in early adolescence, peaking between the
ages of 15 and 20 years.
Due to lifestyle factors, such as crowded living situations, bar patronage,
active or passive smoking, irregular sleep patterns, and sharing of personal
items, college students living in residence halls are more likely to acquire
meningococcal disease than the general college population.
Prior to 1971, military recruits experienced high rates of meningococcal
disease, particularly serotype C disease. The United States military now
routinely vaccinates new recruits. Since the initiation of routine
vaccination of recruits, there has been an 87 percent reduction in sporadic
cases and a virtual elimination of outbreaks of invasive meningococcal
disease in the military.
In addition to increased risk because of crowded living situations,
proximity to a person diagnosed with disease (e.g., being a household
contact) also increases one's risk of disease. Other factors also increase
risk, such as a compromised immune system (which might be caused by HIV/AIDS
or taking certain chemotherapy or immuno-suppressants) or having no spleen.
Even something as simple as a respiratory tract infection may increase the
risk of getting the disease. Certain genetic risk factors also may increase
susceptibility to infection.
Vaccination to Prevent Meningococcal Disease
Meningococcal vaccination is
recommended for all first-year students living in residence halls to protect
against four of the five most common strains (or types) of N. meningitidis
(A, C, Y, and W-135). In persons 15 to 24 years of age, 70 to 80 percent of
cases are caused by potentially vaccine-preventable strains. All other
college students younger than 25 who wish to reduce their risk of infection
may choose to be vaccinated.
Because disease rates begin to climb earlier in adolescence and peak between
the ages of 15 and 20 years, the vaccine also is recommended for adolescents
at high school entry and young adolescents at the pre-adolescent health care
visit (11 and 12 year-olds).
The American College Health Association
The American College Health Association, the nation's principal advocate and
leadership organization for college and university health, represents a
diverse membership that provides and supports the delivery of health care
and prevention and wellness services for the nation's 16 million college
students. The association provides advocacy, education, communications,
products, and services, as well as promotes research and culturally
competent practices to enhance its members' ability to advance the health of
all students and the campus community. For more information, visit
www.acha.org.
