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Teens need meningococcal vaccination
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Meningococcal disease is the leading cause of bacterial meningitis, an infection of the fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. Meningococcal disease can also cause serious problems by spreading into the blood. The disease is spread through air droplets and direct contact with someone who is infected.
While the disease is most common in infants, teenagers 15-19 and college freshmen who live in dorms have an increased risk of meningococcal disease. Students who live in dorms are five times more likely to get meningococcal disease than students of the same age who do not attend college. Freshmen living in dorms are at increased risk because of their lifestyle. They are living away from home and sharing drinks and food. Late nights of studying and partying can leave their immune systems vulnerable.
Meningococcal disease can be treated with IV antibiotics when the illness is identified early. Close contacts of the infected person will need to take oral antibiotics to prevent getting the disease. 1 out of every 10 people who gets meningococcal disease dies from it. Others remain affected for life. Thus, prevention is critical.
Since summertime is often the time for medical checkups, now is the time to be certain that your teen has received the vaccine, or to get him or her vaccinated. More than half of the states now require entering freshmen to be vaccinated. The meningococcal vaccine is routinely administered at the pre-adolescent immunization visit, (around age 11), but should be given to those who did not receive it at the earliest opportunity. The vaccine’s protection lasts for 10 or more years.
Be sure to discuss potential risk and side effects with your health care practitioner.
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