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Colleges following meningitis mandate

BY JON STEVENS

THE OBSERVER-REPORTER

jstevens@observer-reporter.com

A state law passed this summer mandates that students living in residence halls on college campuses receive the meningitis vaccine or sign a waiver declining the shot.

Waynesburg and Washington & Jefferson colleges and California University of Pennsylvania are making plans to inoculate students who did not receive the vaccination prior to coming on campus this fall.

Richard L. Noftzger Jr., vice president for educational services at Waynesburg College, said he sent letters to all freshmen who were signed up to live in college housing on campus and to upper class resident hall students whose health records indicate they have yet to be immunized.

Students indicate in the letter whether they had received the vaccine or if they decline.

"Signing a release means a student is exercising his waiver rights now, but he or she is given the opportunity to have a shot in the future," Noftzger said.

Waynesburg plans to begin administering the vaccine in mid-September. The cost is about $75 and the vaccinations most likely will be administered on campus.

The school has yet to determine how many students have not been vaccinated.

Inoculations for W&J students will be offered from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. Sept. 19 in Rossin Campus Center.

Tracey Kolodziej, associate director of college relations, said students need not pre-register for the shot. There is an $85 fee.

Kolodziej reiterated that the immunization is not mandatory and students who opt not to have the shot because of religious or personal reasons are asked to sign a waiver.

The health center at Cal U. has been giving meningitis vaccinations since 1999. To date, the university has inoculated about 950 students. Of course, the greatest demand for the shots has surfaced just recently because of the new law.

"We have been very proactive in dealing with meningitis because it is a problem. There's no question about that," said Norma Snyder, nurse educator at Cal U.

Snyder has been spending a great deal of her time educating students and parents about the state requirements. And when she's not doing that, she can often be seen administering the vaccination at several student clinics she has scheduled. The next one is from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sept. 18, as part of the school's health fair. Cost is $85.The reason for the sense of urgency to vaccinate is that college students are particularly at increased risk for meningococcal disease, a potentially fatal bacterial infection. In fact, freshmen living in residence halls are found to have a six-fold increased risk for the disease.

American College Health Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends that college students, particularly freshmen living in residence halls, learn more about meningitis and vaccination. At least 70 percent of all cases of meningococcal disease in college students are vaccine preventable.

For more information about meningitis and the vaccine, call the Waynesburg College health service at 724-852-3332 or visit the Web sites of the CDC at www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo and American College Health Association, www.acha.org.

© STAFF WRITER Cara Host contributed to this story.

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ALL INFORMATION, DATA, AND MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE.  THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.