The meningitis vaccine bill — offered by state Sen. Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph — was reviewed by the Senate’s Aging, Families, Mental and Public Health Committee on Wednesday. Mr. Shields, committee chairman, said the bill stems from the November 2001 death of Northwest Missouri State University freshman John R. Davison.

His father Jeff Davison, a St. Joseph attorney, strongly supports the legislation.

“My family appreciates the efforts of all the people trying to make it a state law to get a vaccine or at least sign a waiver after they’ve stopped, paused and thought about the severity of the disease,” he said. “It wouldn’t force anyone but be a mechanism to make people aware so they can make an informed decision.”

Under the legislation, the Missouri Department of Health and Missouri Department of Higher Education would cooperate in developing regulations related to the vaccinations. Students or their parents have the choice of waiving the vaccine after they review information that details the risks of meningococcal diseases. The state institutions would be required to maintain records, including waivers, but would not be required to provide or pay for the vaccinations, which typically cost about $70.

“This should not be a real difficult bill to pass into law,” Mr. Davison said. “It doesn’t mandate anything but notification. It alerts people and then lets them make a choice. And hopefully, they’ll realize $70 is cheap money spent when they think of the consequences.”

Mr. Shields introduced a letter before the committee from Dr. Thomas Alderson, Missouri Western State College’s health clinic physician and a former neighbor of John Davison. In the letter, Dr. Alderson said he helped Western officials draw up a policy for vaccinating all of the institution’s incoming freshmen against meningitis. Western’s policy came on the heals of a similar mandate at Northwest.

“I can report that at Missouri Western — out of approximately 1,000 students in the residence halls — only a handful of students did not comply with getting the vaccine,” Dr. Alderson wrote of the policy’s implementation last fall. “I strongly feel that this is a requirement that is the right thing to do and believe that we should do everything possible to protect the rest of the students …”

Dr. Alderson said the vaccine is recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Academy of Family Physicians. He also said there are other states that require institutions of higher education to provide the vaccine.

Members of the military have been receiving the meningitis vaccine for some time after the disease had become a problem because of the close quarters soldiers live in, Mr. Shields told the committee.

“In former years, this was a huge issue for the U.S. military,” he said. “Then the military gave the vaccine and (meningitis) became a non-issue.”

Beth Wheeler, a lobbyist and spokeswoman for Western, testified that the college has been successful in ensuring the majority of students receive the vaccine.

“I know the paper tracking (of vaccinations) is very difficult,” she said. “But it did get done.”

Kent Porterfield, Northwest vice president for student affairs, said the university heard more compliments than complaints about its policy.

“Nobody is thrilled about getting a shot, but students and parents did appreciate that we were being proactive,” he said. “It was a terrible tragedy, but it was the right thing to do.”

State Rep. Brad Lager, R-Maryville, has introduced a similar bill in the Missouri House that would implement the vaccinations beginning in the 2004-2005 academic year.