Vaccines Available to Help Students Fight Meningitis Outbreaks

By Danielle Wirsansky on August 28, 2019

College asks a lot of you. You have classes to attend, homework to finish, a job to maintain, and a social life to uphold. All of this can wear on your body and make it more susceptible to disease. And college campuses can be hotbeds for diseases, especially viruses. This includes meningitis.

Meningitis might sound like a disease from a bygone era, something people no longer catch, you would be dead wrong. While it is still uncommon, because it is still a bacteria-based disease, it does break out on college campuses across the country, according to a recent press release.

Studies by the CDC have proven that meningitis is a scourge across campuses, showing “From 2011 through March 2019, meningitis B caused all US college meningococcal outbreaks, involving 13 campuses, 50 cases, and two deaths among an at-risk population of approximately 253,000 students. A number of colleges and universities have taken a stand against the disease, recommending or requiring that incoming students get vaccinated before the school year.”

pexels.com

This virus is particularly dangerous for college students because of how quickly it can progress. It can be life-threatening.

That is where GSK comes in. GSK is a science-led global healthcare company with a special purpose: to help people do more, feel better, live longer. They are helping to raise awareness about meningitis and the vaccines that exist to prevent it. There are two different types of vaccines available to help protect against the five-vaccine preventable groups of meningitis – A, C, W, Y, and B.4

Many students may have received a meningitis ACWY vaccine, but may not have received a meningitis B vaccine since it only became available starting in 2014. Talk to your doctor to see if you have been vaccinated and if getting vaccinated might be in your best interest.

For more information, visit meningitisB.com.

Follow Uloop

Apply to Write for Uloop News

Join the Uloop News Team

Discuss This Article

Get Top Stories Delivered Weekly

Back to Top

Log In

Contact Us

Upload An Image

Please select an image to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format
OR
Provide URL where image can be downloaded
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format

By clicking this button,
you agree to the terms of use

By clicking "Create Alert" I agree to the Uloop Terms of Use.

Image not available.

Add a Photo

Please select a photo to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format