This past week, two students from the University of Richmond contracted meningitis, a potentially fatal disease that causes inflammation of the lining around the brain and spinal cord.
"The University [of Richmond] has taken certain steps to make sure other students do not get this disease," University of Richmond spokesperson Brian Eckert said. Meningitis occurs in about one out of every 100,000 people in the United States.
About 10 percent of the victims die from the disease and another 10 percent are left with severe disabilities which may result in limb amputations.
College students, especially those who live in dormitories, are especially susceptible to meningitis, Director of Student Health James C. Turner said.
"Students tend to live and stay in crowded conditions which help the disease to spread," Turner said. "In addition, the University has people from 50 states and 75 different countries. Students can come into contact with strains of meningitis that they've never been exposed to before and have no resistance for."
He also said that the flu, colds, mononucleosis and strep throat viruses help spread meningitis.
Currently, there is a vaccination available to prevent four of the five meningitis strains.
Those four strains account for 75 percent of the meningitis cases reported. This vaccination would have most likely prevented the strain at Richmond. The vaccination is effective for three to four years.
This fall, the University offered meningitis vaccinations for $70 at the Aquatics Fitness Center and in Newcomb Hall.
"Thirty-five hundred students came out to get their meningitis shot. That shows students here take this disease seriously," Turner said.
To encourage students to get the vaccination, University of Richmond officials dropped the fee.
"We gave away meningitis vaccinations on Friday at no charge to the student. The university will assume all costs," Eckert said.
Richmond also is planning another free-of-charge clinic today to follow up the 1,560 Richmond students who got the shot Friday, and expect 750-1,000 to get the shot today.
"At this rate, we expect the whole campus to soon have the vaccination," Eckert said.
University officials, although not worried, still are cautious about the disease. There has not been a meningitis outbreak at the University since five cases were diagnosed between March 1995 and Nov. 1996.
"If anyone was at a party or spent the night at the University of Richmond since Feb. 1, they should come to the Student Health Center to be checked out, as a precaution," Turner said.
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