State law to require meningitis vaccines for college students

Starting July 2015, public college and university students who live on campus will be required to be vaccinated for meningitis, unless they have overriding medical reasons or opposing religious beliefs.

The Missouri Legislature approved the bill earlier this year.

"Each public campus will be responsible for determining that students have met that requirement," said Leroy Wade, deputy commissioner for the DHE. "I don't know that we will have a specific role. We will do what we can to help specific institutions and share any needed information, but beyond that I don't believe the department is going to have a role."

Wade believes the legislation will not greatly change the way colleges administer student health programs, as many are already responsible for tracking and recording their students immunizations and vaccinations.

"I think it is a serious issue and it's not my job to determine if this approach was a good one or not," Wade said. "I think it is appropriate that this issue is in the forefront and people should be paying attention to it."

Meningitis is a disease caused by the inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord known as the meninges, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The inflammation is usually caused by an infection of the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord. The U.S. had approximately 4,100 diagnosed cases of and 500 deaths from bacterial meningitis between 2003 and 2007.

There were eight cases of the disease in March 2013 at Princeton University, where the vaccine is voluntary for students and paid for by the school. Because of the number of cases and lack of direct connection between them, the New Jersey Department of Health and CDC classified the situation as a outbreak.

In November 2013, the University of California, Santa Barbara had four confirmed cases of serogroup B meningococcal disease. The vaccine was voluntary on campus and provided free to students.

"It is an uncommon disease that is very dangerous, but preventable," said Dr. Michael Cooperstock, the medical director of the infection control program at the University of Missouri School of Medicine. "First of all meningococcal disease is pretty rare, but when it occurs it is extremely serious and carries a high risk of mortality, permanent injury to the brain, and loss of limb."

Information from the CDC also states that infectious diseases, such as meningitis, spread more quickly where large groups of people gather and live, so on-campus college students and military personnel have an increased risk.

"The vaccine not only reduces the risk of acquiring of the disease, but it also reduces the carrier state," Cooperstock said. "It reduces the likelihood that someone will carry the bacteria in their nose or throat without showing symptoms. When a person gets the meningococcal disease they get it from someone else, and that person far more often is not sick, they are just a carrier."

Students can exempt themselves from vaccination for either medical or religious reasons. Institutions of higher education have to keep records of students who are vaccinated and those who are not, which includes a signed waiver form from every student who has opted out of the vaccination, according to the bill.

To opt out for medical reasons, students are required to have the signature of a licensed physician that indicates the immunization would seriously endanger the student's health or life, or if the student has documentation of the disease or laboratory evidence of immunity to the disease.

Students who disagree with the policy for religious reasons can fill out a form from the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) that asks the student's name, the date and a signature of the parent or guardian. The form states that students who opt out have a greater risk of getting the disease and are subject to exclusion from the school when outbreaks of the vaccine-preventable disease occurs.

Since this law does not take affect until next year, no religious exemptions have been granted yet. But for the 2013-14 school year, public schools in Missouri granted religious exemptions for children entering kindergarten for 1,239 polio vaccines; 1,204 diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccines; 1,284 measles, mumps and rubella vaccines; 1,143 hepatitis B vaccines; and 1,351 chickenpox vaccines, DHSS spokesman Ryan Hobart wrote in an email.

SB748 on the web: www.house.mo.gov/billcentral.aspx