A week before Boston University is scheduled to hold its annual meningitis vaccination clinic, a senior at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis Monday and was listed in critical condition as of Tuesday morning.
The 22-year-old man went to the university’s health services center Monday and was taken to a hospital in Northampton where he received antibiotics and was sent to Hartford Hospital, according to the Associated Press Tuesday.
Hospital officials could not update his condition yesterday afternoon. UMass officials said the student was from Dorchester, but would not release his name.
The university is contacting students who may have been in contact with the infected student, according to Ann Becker, a nurse at UMass Student Health services. Becker said more than 200 students have been given antibiotics as a precautionary measure.
According to Becker, the source of the infection is unknown and will probably remain so. Many cases of meningitis arise without a clear source, since people can carry the disease, which spreads like a cold or the flu, without showing any symptoms.
The university has no record of how many students are vaccinated for meningitis. The vaccination, while recommended, is not required for college students. Becker said the vaccination is available to UMass students as a ‘personal choice.’
According to the American College Health Association, vaccinations can stop 65 to 70 percent of bacterial meningitis infections. The vaccination is especially recommended for college students because of the intimate nature of dormitory life and because typical living habits of college students weaken their immune systems and put them at greater risk for exposure to the disease.
BU Student Health Services is scheduled to hold a clinic for meningitis vaccinations at 808 Commonwealth Ave. on Nov. 14th. Meningitis vaccinations will be $85 and flu vaccinations will also be available for $20.
Vaccinations are also available anytime at the Student Health Services center at 881 Commonwealth Ave.
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
