Rutgers Students Urged To Get Meningitis Vaccine

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — Students returning to Rutgers University New Brunswick campus are encouraged to get vaccinated for meningitis B after two students there tested positive for the disease earlier this year.

Two students contracted meningitis B during the spring 2016 semester. Both were hospitalized and have recovered.

The university is not certain how the students contracted the disease, said E.J. Miranda, director of University News and Media Relations. The students were hospitalized and have recovered.

The state Department of Health and the university strongly recommend all undergraduate students get an additional meningitis B vaccination before returning to campus.

Meningococcal disease is a rare, but potentially fatal infection. Early symptoms resemble the flu, making diagnosing it difficult. Symptoms include high fever, severe headache, nausea, vomiting, and rash. Early diagnosis and treatment is important because the disease can be deadly within hours of a person becoming infected.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tested the bacteria from both students and found that it matched, but no common link was found between the students. This suggests that the strain is “present among the Rutgers University-New Brunswick population,” the university said in a statement.

Bacteria that cause meningococcal disease require prolonged or close person-to-person contact in order to spread. People who come into contact with an infected person’s saliva or other respiratory secretions can get infected as well. Bacteria is not spread by casual contact, such as being in the same room with an infected person.

For more information from the university, click here.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons — Used with permission