Meningitis
What Parents and Students Need to Know About Preventing This Deadly Disease
Dear Pepperdine University Parents and Students,
As you may know, bacterial meningitis has been in the news repeatedly over the last
few years as outbreaks have occurred at a number of college campuses including Princeton
and UC Santa Barbara. Bacterial meningitis, an acute infection that affects the brain
and spinal cord and can rapidly progress to death. Due to the severity of this disease,
meningitis requires early diagnosis and swift treatment. Complicating matters, meningitis
symptoms closely resemble the flu. The highest incidences of meningitis occur during
flu season, which falls between late winter and early spring. When not fatal, bacterial
meningitis can lead to permanent disabilities such as hearing loss, brain damage,
or loss of limbs.
I would like to reassure all students and their parents/guardians that Pepperdine
University has never had an outbreak of bacterial meningitis. However, due to the
seriousness of this disease, I believe that you should be well-informed about this
potentially life-threatening disease and how best to prevent it.
Recent studies of college outbreaks suggest that First year students living in residence
halls have a slightly higher risk of contracting this disease because they live and
work in close proximity to one another. Lifestyle also appears to be a risk factor:
exposure to active and passive smoking, alcohol consumption, and bar patronage have
been shown to increase the danger of contracting meningitis. Due to these findings,
both the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American College
Health Association (ACHA) strongly recommend that incoming students be informed of
their risk and the potential benefits of vaccination. They further recommend that
the vaccine be made easily available to those students who wish to reduce their risk
of contracting bacterial meningitis. Here at the Pepperdine Student Health Center,
immunization against bacterial meningitis (Menactra) is mandatory for most Seaver
students. There are several newly FDA approved bacterial meningitis vaccines which
prevent bacterial strains not covered in Menactra.
The American College Health Association recommends that these vaccines be given to
students at especially high risk due to certain medical conditions, but they may be
given to any student 16-23 years old.
Meningitis is not to be taken lightly; it is my hope that you will seriously consider
the severity of this disease, be immunized, and take precautions for avoiding it.
I strongly encourage all incoming students to receive the vaccination for meningitis
prior to arrival on campus. If this is not possible, the Pepperdine University Student
Health Center provides the meningitis vaccine. Please call the Pepperdine University
Student Health Center at (310) 506-4316 - prompt 3 - if you have further questions.
Sincerely,
Lucy Larson, MD
Medical Director, Student Health Center