COLUMBUS, Ohio - Erin Krejny's parents thought the college freshman had a bad case of flu when she was taken from her dormitory to a hospital in the middle of the night.

Three hours later, having driven from their suburban Cleveland home to St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor, Mich., Tom and Cindy Krejny were told their daughter was dead.

The Eastern Michigan University student from Valley View had contracted meningococcal meningitis. She died in March 1997, two days before her 19th birthday.

"This disease can and does kill before doctors even recognize what is happening," Cindy Krejny said in a letter to Republican Rep. John Hagan of Alliance.

Hagan is sponsoring a bill that would require students moving into on-campus housing at Ohio colleges to provide proof that they were vaccinated for meningitis.

Krejny was to testify before the House Health & Family Services Committee on Wednesday in favor of the measure. However, the committee postponed the hearing and a vote on the bill for two weeks because it ran out of time to take testimony.

The bill also would require those who don't get vaccinated to sign a waiver stating that they understand the risks of infection.

"Someone has to sit down and make a conscious decision to not do this. I think they'll think twice when they realize the risk and get the antibiotics," Hagan said Tuesday.

The bill has no opposition so far, but its passage remains uncertain because there's little time left before the Legislature adjourns Dec. 31. If it doesn't pass this session, Hagan said he would reintroduce the measure next year.

More than a dozen states, including Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut, Virginia and Florida, have passed similar legislation. Other states require that incoming students be informed that they have an increased risk.

Meningococcal meningitis, which includes symptoms of fever, nausea, confusion, vomiting, exhaustion and headache, is a bacterial infection of membranes around the brain and spinal cord. It can be spread by coughing, kissing and sharing eating utensils.

According to the Meningitis Foundation of America, about 3,000 Americans a year become infected and more than 300 die.

Estimates show that 100 to 125 cases occur annually on college campuses, resulting in five to 15 deaths.

The Ohio Department of Health said that from 1998 through Nov. 15, there were 61 meningitis cases in the 18-24 age group. It could not say how many of those were on college campuses or how many resulted in death.

Studies have shown that college students living on campus have a higher risk of developing the disease than those living off campus because the crowded conditions expose people to strains of germs they may never have encountered before. Recent data shows a six-fold increase for students living in dorms.

Because of those numbers, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now recommend that college students learn more about meningitis and consider vaccination.

Hagan says the state must mandate vaccinations because students might receive information but not take time to read it and understand the risks.

Under his bill, students would be required to pay for vaccinations, which cost between $55 and $75, and colleges would have to pay the expense of printing waivers, which Hagan said was a minimal expense. Both public and private schools would have to comply.

Tracey Young, spokeswoman for The Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Ohio, said that some of the 51 private schools the association represents already require students to provide proof that they have had physicals and been vaccinated against diseases such as measles, mumps, diphtheria, tetanus and polio.

Other schools recommend, but don't require, that students get meningitis and hepatitis B vaccines, Young said.

"This isn't that much of an extra burden," she said. "And, it's just probably a smart thing to do."

The Health Department also would be required to make available to local school districts information about the disease that can be easily distributed to students.

ON THE NET

Meningitis Foundation of America: http://www.musa.org/

The Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Ohio: http://www.aicuo.edu/