Require college meningitis vaccinations

Do the math: College freshmen in campus housing are four times as likely to contract meningitis as the general population. Of the 3,000 cases in America each year, 125 occur on college campuses and about 15 students die. The disease moves fast and can be easy to mistake in the early going, when treatment can mean life or death. University of South Florida sophomore Rachel Futterman thought she had the flu last Friday. Her death Monday should prompt the state to require that students be vaccinated.

Florida law currently allows students to attest they had the vaccine or to opt-out entirely. Those holes practically obliterate any value to the law. Some universities, such as the University of Florida, require students to prove vaccination. Students who opt out must sign and return a form. But USF conceded this week it allowed students who had not returned the paperwork to move into housing anyway. These loopholes and the laxity in enforcing what weak laws exist don't cut it as reasonable public health precautions.

Florida should require that students show proof of vaccination before they register for class. USF and the board that oversees the state's 11 public universities moved quickly this week to plug holes in the vaccination policy. Legislators should change the law and require every student be vaccinated. Anyone who knows anything about college life knows that students move around freely. Limiting the vaccine to freshmen or to campus dwellers is not enough in an environment where students of all ages put themselves at risk through normal behavior such as crashing at a friend's, exchanging kisses, sharing drinks or any other exchange that involves direct contact with an infected person.

A blanket policy would not inconvenience students or overload the universities with paperwork. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the vaccines are safe and highly effective. The universities could make some reasonable exceptions for medical or religious reasons, but the focus should be on reducing the odds for contagion as much as possible. The CDC has warned that young adults are increasingly vulnerable. And while 85 percent or more of those afflicted survive, nearly one in five survivors is left with a permanent loss of hearing, mental retardation, the loss of limbs or other serious harm. Vaccination is a small price to pay and one the state should require immediately.

[Last modified September 28, 2007, 00:45:54]