Last week’s meningitis case from the Los Alamitos dormitory is an awful, horrible thing to happen to anyone, but what makes this terrible situation even worse is the fact that all four strains of meningitis are preventable.
According to Nop Ratanasiripong, the Student Health Services coordinator, shots are available for students at Student Health Services for $89. While this seems to be a steep price for students (about the same price of a costly textbook), if a shot can prevent a potentially life-threatening disease, it is well worth the cost.
According to the Web site for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Meningitis is an infection of the fluid of a person’s spinal cord and the fluid that surrounds the brain.”
According to Ratanasiripong, there are two kinds of meningitis: viral and bacterial. Viral meningitis is not dangerous and has flulike symptoms and, according to the CDC, is caused by common viruses.
On the other hand, bacterial meningitis is deadly and, according to the Web site for the National Meningitis Association, between 10 and 12 percent of people who contract it die, amounting to about 300 to 360 deaths per year. According to the CDC, about 20 percent of victims suffer hearing loss.
Suffering from bacterial meningitis is also incredibly painful, with flulike symptoms like the viral illness, including fever, severe headache and, the characteristic that distinguishes it from viral meningitis, an achy neck. After several hours, the disease can develop into nausea, vomiting, sleepiness, discomfort when looking into bright lights and confusion, according to the CDC Web site.
That is a lot of unnecessary pain and suffering for families, friends and victims when the disease is completely preventable. Ratanasiripong said no booster is needed and, thus far, research has shown that the shot lasts at least 10 years.
Dorm dwellers are also especially susceptible to the disease because of the close proximity of their quarters. Contrary to popular belief, though, the disease is spread through respiratory droplets, which come from things like coughing, sharing food, sneezing and kissing. Being in the same place as someone who has contracted bacterial meningitis does not mean you are necessarily susceptible to the disease. Breathing the same air also does not necessarily lead to contracting the disease.
Considering meningitis is preventable, universities should make it mandatory that all incoming on-campus residents are vaccinated. This may be a relatively rare disease, but it only takes one serious case to make it an unnecessary tragedy and hurt others.
Currently, Housing & Residential Life, via its new online application process, asks students if they have received the meningitis vaccine and if they are going to receive it. Information about meningitis, also, is available via the Web site. These are steps in the right direction, but are not enough.
Condi Ben, a member of the board of directors at the National Meningitis Association, agreed, saying in a phone conversation with the Daily Forty-Niner that she would “very much like to see a California state law passed for all [incoming] students [to get vaccinated].”
However, CSULB is not the only campus nearby that doesn’t require meningitis vaccination. Other nearby campuses have the same policy, including Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Dominguez Hills, UC Irvine and UCLA.
There are some people, who because of their spiritual beliefs, would not want to be vaccinated. There should be special provisions for such people. Everyone else, however, should be required to receive preventative measures against meningitis.
According to current California law, universities are only required to provide incoming freshmen with information about the vaccination. Only two states, Louisiana and New York, require that students receive the meningitis vaccination.
We urge making Cal State Long Beach a school that is even more vigilant of its students’ health concerns. Preventable means preventable, so let’s make it happen.
