Even though there have been no recently reported cases of meningitis at Georgia Tech, meningitis did make news during the past year due to outbreaks at other college campuses across the United States.

Meningitis, specifically meningococcal meningitis, is a rare but serious and potentially fatal disease. There has long been a vaccine (MCV4) available that can prevent meningitis caused by Serogroups A, C, Y and W.

The MCV4 vaccine has also long been required for Georgia Tech students because college age young adults are at a higher risk of meningococcal meningitis than other age groups.

New Vaccines Available for MenB Meningitis

MenB causes approximately one-third of the bacterial meningitis cases in the United States and until recently, there was no vaccine available. Newly developed vaccines against Serogroup B (MenB) have recently been approved by the FDA (U.S. Food & Drug Administration).

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently announced its recommendation for the MenB vaccine series:

• The MenB Vaccine maybe administered to adolescents and young adults ages 16 through 23 to provide short-term protection against most strains of Serogroup B meningococcal disease.
• The preferred age for vaccination is 16 through 18 years.
• It is strongly recommended for individuals at particularly high risk.

While MenB vaccine is not currently required at Georgia Tech, it is recommended and available. Costs for the meningitis vaccines are determined by which series the student receives and whether the entire series is administered at Georgia Tech or if the student only needs one shot to complete the series.

More about Meningitis

Pfizer (distributor one of the meningitis vaccines) has developed a video of a student describing his experience with meningitis at https://www.facebook.com/MeetMeningitis/videos/994367453909911/

For more information on meningitis and the meningitis vaccines, visit the CDC website http://www.cdc.gov/meningitis/index.html or contact Stamps Health Services Immunization Clinic http://health.gatech.edu/immunization/Pages/default.aspx or email

debbie.spillers@health.gatech.edu