Beware: Meningitis On Campus

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

October 13, 1999 / 10:16 AM EDT / CBS

Health officials are concerned about the increase in cases of a life-threatening infection - bacterial meningitis - on college campuses in the last decade.

CBS News This Morning's Thalia Assuras got an update from Dr. James Turner, chairman of the American College Health Association's task force on vaccine-preventable diseases and director of student health at the University of Virginia.

School officials took aggressive action after receiving word that a 19-year-old sophomore at Michigan State University Lansing, Mich., had the disease. He is now in critical condition.

For the last few days, hundreds of students at Michigan State have been lining up to get vaccinated against bacterial meningitis also known as Meningococcal meningitis.

The disease is an infection of the lining of the brain and spinal cord. Symptoms include high fever, vomiting, a rigid neck and spine, and a rash. Even though it is rare disease, it is extremely serious, says Dr. Turner.

"It kills 10 percent to 20 percent of its victims; another 20 percent have serious complications, such as amputations and kidney failure. But it's rare. Only 1 in 100,000 people in the general population actually come down with the disease," he explains.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of bacterial meningitis cases among students has been rising.

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Dr. James Turner: Certain features of college life put students at risk.

The CDC and other health institutions have found that college freshmen and sophomores living in dormitories are at particularly high risk.

Data reported in the July issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases revealed that college students living in dormitories have an 8.89 to 22.91 times greater risk of Meningococcal disease than students residing in other accommodations.

In June, the CDC reported similar finding, stating that such students are 6.33 times more likely to develop meningitis than other college students are.

Certain features of college life put them at risk as well, says Dr. Turner. "Going to bars, binge drinking and cigarette smoking place people at risk, probably because it compromises their immune systems, at least transiently," he explains.

"We see lots of colds, the flu and mono, and this seems to make it easier for the bacteria to get into the bloodstream," he adds.

"The one case at Michigan state should not prompt panic or concern, but for two years the American College Health Association has recommended that all collee students consider getting the vaccination effectively before they go to college," notes Dr. Turner.

Nationally, the infection rate among college students has nearly doubled from 310 cases in 1991 to 602 cases in 1997, according to a recent survey from Johns Hopkins University and the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

The vaccine provides protection for about five years. "It is very effective against four of the five common strains. And for those four strains, it is 90 percent to 95 percent effective," says Dr. Turner.

Bacterial meningitis can be treated with antibiotics, but the treatment has to begin early; 10 percent to 20 percent die despite the treatment, he adds.