Immunization, meningococcal definition - medical term
A vaccine to prevent meningococcal meningitis,
an inflammation of the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord due to bacterial
infection by an organism called Neisseria meningitidis.
T he symptoms of meningococcal meningitis include drowsiness, headache, high
fever, stiff neck, nausea and vomiting. The disease strikes 3.8 of every 100,000
college freshman in dorms, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC). It is fatal in 10-15% of cases.
College students and military recruits who live in dormitories or barracks are
unusually susceptible to meningococcal meningitis. The CDC's Advisory Committee
on Immunization Practices in 1999 made a unanimous recommendation that college freshmen
be vaccinated against this type of bacterial meningitis. The vaccine is effective
against most strains of meningococcal meningitis in the US.
A study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA 1999;281:1906-1910)
showed that college students who live on campus have triple the risk of acquiring
meningococcal infection compared with their peers who live off-campus. Among the
factors cited for a higher risk of the disease on campus were the relative crowding
associated with dormitory residence, alcohol-related behaviors, and exposure to
tobacco smoke. The same factors make young adults who are military recruits at higher
risk for meningococcal meningitis and provide the basis for recommendations that
they, too, receive the vaccine.
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