Communal living in college dormitories puts students at higher risk for certain types of meningitis, according to medical experts.
And with rates of Meningococcal Disease, a type of Meningitis, on the rise, students are advised to curb risky routines of sharing things like drinks and cigarettes.
“College students should avoid social smoking and drinking when possible,” said Archana Chatterjee, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Creighton University Medical School. “It isn’t the smoking and alcohol that is the problem; it’s that they share these drinks. That’s the problem.”
Of the 3,000 nationally reported cases each year, college freshmen are the second highest group at risk next to small children under the age of five, according to a study conducted in 1998 by the Center for Disease Control and the American College Health Association. In 1998, of the over 100 college students diagnosed with the disease, 15 died.
The majority of freshmen nationwide on most college campuses across the nation are required to live on campus for the first year, sharing shower stalls, bathroom sinks, toilets and utensils. All of these activities are linked to the spread of bacteria, making people between the ages of 18 and 24 the most susceptible to the disease.
“Some forms of meningitis are contagious. Bacteria is spread through the exchange of respiratory secretions like kissing,” said Center for Disease Control Spokeswoman Nicole Coffin. “Anyone in direct contact like a boyfriend or a girlfriend has an increased risk.”
Though meningitis may be contagious, not everyone who carries the gene is infected, which makes it difficult to avoid.
Some of the symptoms included with Meningococcal Disease are a high fever, vomiting, confusion, seizures, drowsiness, stiff neck, skin rashes appearing around the armpits and/or hands and feet, sensitivity to bright lights as well as a rapid progression of small skin hemorrhages under the skin.
“It is important that treatment is started early in the course of the disease,” Coffin said. “Bacterial meningitis can be treated with a number of effective antibiotics. And appropriate treatment can reduce the risk of death below 15 percent.”
Boston University offers meningitis vaccines at Student Health Services for $70.
Testing for meningitis can consist of a number of steps. First, the doctor will test for signs of infection around your head, nose and throat, followed by a throat culture. Doctors also check the skin around the spine for signs of rash. The final procedure — for people deemed at risk — is a spinal tap or lumbar puncture, which samples the cerebrospinal fluid. The entire process takes about 30 minutes and may result in a headache afterwards.
The number of afflicted 15- to 24-year-olds doubled from 1991-97, according to a CDC study.
“This is a potentially fatal disease,” Chatterjee said. “It is a very serious disease. To me the cost of the vaccine is very minimal compared to the risks of the disease.”
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