U.S. Agency Recommends Requiring Meningitis Vaccinations for Freshmen in Dormitories

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All college freshmen who will be living in dormitories should receive a meningitis vaccine, according to new recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

The recommendations, approved last week, go beyond the CDC's five-year-old policy suggesting that colleges inform students about meningitis and how to obtain the vaccine. One impetus for the change was the Food and Drug Administration's approval last month of a new vaccine that lasts longer and prevents people from carrying the potentially fatal disease in a dormant state.

People living in close quarters, like dormitories, are particularly at risk of meningitis because it is spread through kissing, sneezing, and sharing eating utensils, among other activities.

Peter S. Dietrich, medical director of University Health Services at the University of California at Berkeley, said on Friday that his office was likely to step up its awareness efforts in light of the new recommendations. But, he cautioned, even the new vaccine will not completely prevent the disease because it does not affect meningitis B, which accounts for about 50 percent of cases.

Nonetheless, the heightened recommendation is a step in the right direction, according to the National Meningitis Association, a nonprofit organization formed by the parents of people who have died or are suffering long-term effects from the disease.

"This is a small step, but this is a great step," said Carl Skowronek, a volunteer with the association. Mr. Skowronek's 19-year-old son, Michael, died of the disease in 1996, when he was a freshman at Drexel University, in Philadelphia.

Many people carry the bacterium that causes the disease but will never develop its symptoms. For those who do fall ill, the disease begins with flulike symptoms, but progresses rapidly and can result in hearing loss, brain damage, and death.

• The Meningitis Debate (2/20/2004)

• Colleges Urged to Offer Vaccine for Meningitis (7/14/2000)