The Immunization Partnership Urges Parents to Have Children Vaccinated for Meningitis 

The Immunization Partnership Urges Parents to Have

Children Vaccinated for Meningitis

 

HOUSTON (January 6, 2010)–Effective January 1, 2010, a new law requires first time and transfer students enrolling in college and entering on-campus housing, to show proof of having the meningitis vaccine at least 10 days prior to residency. The law is named the “Jamie Schanbaum Act”, in honor of Jamie Schanbaum, who survived bacterial meningitis as a college sophomore at the University of Texas in Austin, in November 2008.      

 

            College students living in dormitories have an exceptionally high rate of meningitis. In fact, the rate of invasive disease among 17-20 year olds is approximately twice that of the overall U.S. population. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that college students living in dormitories get immunized against meningitis, and the law brings Texas into compliance with that recommendation. 

 

            “Had my child received the vaccine for meningitis, we wouldn’t be battling the devastating effects of the disease now,” said Patsy Schanbaum, Jamie’s mother. “I urge all parents of college-aged students to get their students immunized sooner rather than later.” Jamie survived meningitis, but lost both legs below the knee, and most of her fingers to the disease. For more information about Jamie’s journey, go to www.thejamiegroup.org

 

Bacterial meningitis is an inflammation of the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord.  The bacterium can also infect the blood. This potentially deadly disease strikes two to three thousand Americans each year; and 10 to 12 percent of those infected die each year.  In Texas, there have been 537 cases of Bacterial Meningitis since 2002. Of those, 53 people died.

 

Among those who survive Meningococcal Disease, approximately 20 percent live with severe health problems and permanent disabilities, including brain damage, kidney failure, learning disabilities, hearing loss, blindness, limb damage that requires amputation, and even mental retardation.

 

             Symptoms of meningitis include fever, headache and a stiff neck, and often nausea, vomiting and mental status changes. Meningococcal Disease can result in joint infection, pneumonia, organ system failure, and shock. Symptoms can progress rapidly, sometimes leading to death in 24-48 hours. The disease is easily spread by direct contact or by droplets of respiratory secretions (coughing, sneezing, kissing, and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation). Contact among members of the same household greatly increases the risk of infection.

 

            “This is a good example of how law and public policies can directly impact people’s health and well being,” said Anna C. Dragsbaek, J.D., Public Health attorney and executive director of The Immunization Partnership. “The single greatest tool we have in fighting infectious diseases is school entry mandates. This is what can save human lives.”

 

About The Immunization Partnership

 

The Immunization Partnershipis a non-profit organization that aims to eradicate vaccine preventable diseases by developing and coordinating our community’s resources through public and private partnerships. The primary focus areas are education, advocacy and public policy, and support of immunization information systems. For more information, visit www.immunizeUSA.org

 

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