Meningitis Vaccine Now Required

Before Timothy Lyons ’04 came to Harvard, his physician said the meningitis vaccine was “unnecessary.” But senior year, Lyons came down with a case of the highly contagious bacterial meningococcal meningitis and the doctor changed his mind.

“When he saw me in intensive care with a tube down my throat,” Lyons said, “he said to my sister that he would never call it unnecessary again.”

Now Massachusetts state legislators seem to agree.

A state law passed July 30 makes the vaccine mandatory for all incoming first-years, effective 2005.

Students who don’t want the vaccine will have to sign a waiver saying so.

This makes Massachusetts only the 10th state to adopt such a law, which also asks that organizations such as day-care centers and over-night camps provide information about the risks of the disease.

“Even one case of bacterial meningitis is too many when there is a vaccine available to prevent this deadly disease,” said State Representative Joseph F. Wagner, the original sponsor of the bill.

The disease, which killed 60 people last year, is an infection of the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord.

If not treated early, the meningitis can be fatal.

“People might experience a sudden onset of fever, rash, low blood pressure, and pus in the spinal fluid,” said Alfred DeMaria Jr., director of communicable disease control for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

According to the CDC, 10-15 percent of bacterial meningitis is fatal, with another 10-15 percent of the survivors developing serious complications such as permanent hearing loss, mental retardation and loss of limbs.

The disease spreads through transmission of bacteria in saliva, and although the risk for first-year college students contracting meningitis is five times the national average of one in 100,000, upperclass students contract it at a lower rate than the 18-24 year-old demographic as a whole, DeMaria said.

Currently, over 900 students in each returning Harvard class have been vaccinated, said David S. Rosenthal ’59, director of University Health Services (UHS).

As of mid-August, about 700 incoming first-years have already received the vaccine.

The vaccine does not provide 100 percent protection, however.

“The current vaccine is not effective against the B strain, which is responsible for 20-30 percent of meningitis cases,” DeMaria said.

In addition, the $70 vaccine lasts only a few years, and DeMaria said additional booster shots are not recommended because they make people more susceptible to contracting the disease.

An improved vaccine will be available in 2005 for $140.

Meningococcal vaccinations are not covered by student insurance plans, and the hefty price tag might deter some students from electing the take the vaccination, said DeMaria.

Rosenthal said the high costs of the vaccine versus the relative low risk of the disease is an issue which UHS is examining.

“Over this next week, we will be meeting with parents and encourage students to get the vaccination,” he said.

UHS will make a recommendation to the College on how the new law will add to the student health fee, Rosenthal said.

—Staff writer Risheng Xu can be reached at xu4@fas.harvard.edu.