The Dartmouth College Health Services and the Nathan Smith Society have spearheaded a campaign to spread the word on the dangers of meningitis, a potentially fatal disease known for striking college campuses, in the hope that more students will volunteer for vaccines and be able to detect its early symptoms.
A video on meningitis from the Nova public television series entitled "Killer on Campus" will be presented on Feb. 12th at Collis Commonground at 7 p.m., followed by a panel discussion. Students can sign up on-line for vaccines that will be administered by Health Services during a clinic on Feb. 20th.
"Even in the situation where you're not protected by a vaccine, if the disease is recognized early, appropriate treatment can cure the disease," said Biology Prof. Lee Witters, faculty advisor to the Nathan Smith Society, an organization of students preparing for medical training in graduate studies.
Witters said that students ought not to rush in deciding to get vaccinated. He advised that all who are considering vaccination attend the information session, research the disease and consult with their parents. Allergies and other conditions may exclude some people from receiving the vaccine.
Jessica Wang '05 and Dan Shivapour '05 led the Nathan Smith Society in the campaign.
"As students, we were able to gauge how much awareness of meningitis was already on campus, what were the most effective ways to get the word out and how students could be encouraged to learn more about the disease," Wang told The Dartmouth.
Cases of bacterial meningitis have punctuated life at Dartmouth in recent years, with the deaths of one student and one faculty member, and one non-fatal case last summer. Witters said that the campaign was not a "knee-jerk reaction" to the summer outbreak, but that the College is acting alongside college campuses nation-wide to curb the disease.
The rate of contracting the disease does not necessarily rise when outbreaks occur, and Health Services typically sees less than one case per year.
"We don't want to be alarmist here -- but there have been a handful of cases over the last few years, and one was fatal," said Withers.
Bacterial meningitis has a 10 to 15 percent fatality rate, and it strikes more often in close-quartered settings like college campuses, according to the Center for Disease Control.
Early detection and treatment can prevent the more severe results of contracting the disease. High fever, headache, stiff neck and other flu-like symptoms commonly occur at the onset of the disease. A tell-tale rash distinguishes meningitis from other diseases that share some of its more ambiguous symptoms.
Vaccination, while it greatly reduces the risk of contracting the disease, is not one hundred percent foolproof. Kelly Cameron '04 is one of the roughly seventy percent of Dartmouth students who have been already immunized for meningitis -- but she contracted the disease last summer.
"Even for those who have been immunized, we want them to know that they're not totally protected form the disease." said Witters. The vaccine, unfortunately, does not cover all of the bacteria that cause meningitis.
Minor side-effects to innoculation include swelling and fever, and there is no risk of contracting the disease from the shot. Unlike the small pox vaccine, which injects a live virus, the bacterial meningitis shot consists of "absolute dead bacteria incapable of causing disease," said Witters.
While its viral form is largely harmless, bacterial meningitis tends to colonize the upper airways before it enters the bloodstream and the brain lining, essentially causing gangrene according to Withers. Victims have been known to lose extremities to the disease even if it does not prove fatal.
In its benign form, the bacteria that causes meningitis is present in forty percent of the population. Adults are typically more resistant to the disease, as they have built up immunity from frequent exposure to the bacteria.
Health Services sent a letter last summer to all incoming freshmen urging them to be immunized before Fall term. According to the Center for Disease Control, all college freshman have a slightly higher risk of contracting meningitis.
