Doctors urge vaccine for students ages 11-18

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As another school year rolls around, parents may want to consider following a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendation that children as young as 11 or 12, high-schoolers and college freshmen living in dormitory settings be vaccinated against meningococcal disease. The rare bacterial infection can cause meningitis, a severe swelling of the brain and spinal cord, and also can lead to sepsis, a potentially life-threatening blood infection.

College students, who are accustomed to sharing drinks and living in close contact with others, are more at risk for the disease, said Kathy Schutz, immunization coordinator for the Lee County Health Department.

A meningococcal vaccine has been around for awhile, but previously lasted less than five years. A new strain, menactra, is effective longer, "so now they're saying 'Let's get kids when their habits start to be that way' and it will last through college," Schutz said.

Lee County has offered the vaccine for three years, and gives about 50 shots a year, often to new college freshmen.

Sue Drey, clinical coordinator at Whiteside County Health Department, said her department has received phone calls daily, inquiring about the vaccine, which was licensed in 2005 and is the subject of a rash of recent TV advertisements.

Meningococcal disease infects up to 3,000 Americans a year, killing about 300. About 450 people develop long-term, permanent disabilities, including hearing loss, limb amputation, or brain damage, according to the CDC.

It is often mistaken for the flu, and it spreads rapidly.

The new vaccine does not protect against all forms of meningococcal disease, though, the CDC warns.

So far in Lee County, requests for the shot haven't risen much, "but we have been getting more questions from people who were told by their doctor," Schutz said. "The word's just getting out."

Some parents may not hear about it because Illinois students are required to get a physical before entering fifth grade, when they are about 10, which is a year too young to get the vaccine, she speculated.

There was a meningitis outbreak in the area in the 1990s. "I'd like to think people in the area know what it is and how fast it could spread," Schutz said.

Telegraph Reporter Natalie Schutz contributed to this story.