More Northwest students getting meningitis vaccine

MARYVILLE, Mo. -- Health officials at Northwest Missouri State University report a surge of student interest in the meningitis vaccine after a classmate died of a rare bacterial infection on Thanksgiving Day.

"It scared a lot of people," said freshman Lauren Pickett, who made an appointment to get the vaccine when she returned to campus after Thanksgiving break. "I wasn't really that worried about it before."

John R. Davison, 18, died Nov. 22 at Heartland Regional Medical Center from a strain of Neisseria meningoccemia, a blood-borne bacterial infection.

Davison's death was not attributed to meningitis but to Neisseria meningoccemia, an overwhelming bacterial infection of the blood spread by sharing saliva. The bacteria, however, is the same one that can cause meningitis, which attacks brain tissue and the spinal cord.

Before Thanksgiving, the university had given 50 meningitis shots during the fall semester, said Dr. Jerry Wilmes, the director of student health at Northwest. But in the first four days of classes after Thanksgiving break, the university provided the vaccine to about 120 students. The vaccine is effective against four types of bacteria that can cause meningitis.

"In times like these, it really highlights awareness," Wilmes said. "We've given out as many in one day as we would during the entire semester."

The vaccine is not required, but freshmen living in dorms are urged to get it. In the past, officials said, few students have gotten the shot, in part because of the cost and because meningitis isn't common.

It's not known whether the vaccine would have been effective against the bacteria that resulted in Davison's death. The vaccine provides protection against the most common strains of bacteria and is considered about 85 percent to 100 percent effective in the strains that it attacks.