Posted on 05/30/2005 8:22:15 PM PDT by Born Conservative
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended yesterday wider use of a new meningitis vaccine for adolescents and college freshmen.
The vaccine, sold as Menactra by Sanofi Pasteur, protects against infections caused by meningococcal bacteria. Such infections include a form of meningitis that can be rapidly fatal.
For the first time, the diseases center, a federal agency in Atlanta, recommended that all 11- and 12-year-olds be routinely immunized against meningococcal disease.
The agency also recommended using Menactra to protect high school freshmen or children younger than 15, whichever comes earlier.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Ping
Glad my husband survived it. And no, he never looked like that.
I had the vaccine this past year because NYU recommended it even for grad students, and given that I was coming to NYC, I thought, 'better safe than sorry.' Well, I had an awful instant reaction to it--sweaty, blacked out, symptoms like that--but, students do die of this (and one had just done so at my undergrad institution prior to me getting the vaccine) and so I think there is merit behind the argument.
I had the vaccine this past year because NYU recommended it even for grad students, and given that I was coming to NYC, I thought, 'better safe than sorry.' Well, I had an awful instant reaction to it--sweaty, blacked out, symptoms like that--but, students do die of this (and one had just done so at my undergrad institution prior to me getting the vaccine) and so I think there is merit behind the argument.
(sorry 'bout the double post...it was an accident :-/ )
He is extremely fortunate. Meningococcus advances rapidly, and many who are infected either die or end up with limb amputations.
Sounds like you had more a what is called a "vaso-vagal" reaction, which isn't from the vaccine per-se. It's a physical response to emotional stress; the heart slows down, your veins enlarge (vasodilate), causing a shortage of blood to the brain, leading to fainting. I've seen it happen when people get a shot, stitches, blood drawn, etc.
No amputations here!
Hubby came down with it when he was a research scientists years ago.
He is now a high ranking physician with all limbs in place.
He was in the hospital for a long stay. And in bed for 3 months.
FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.
B.C. thanks for posting this.
IIRC, there are 150 or so types of meningitis agents. Was still able to culture the meningococcus from my throat years later.
I had the vaccination last year when I first started going to college. I had never even heard of this until I read an info-sheet about it. It wasn't expensive ($15 without insurance) but they highly recommended it as living in college (namely having to interact/live with a bunch of people in one place) I guess makes it more likely for someone to catch this than usual.
bttt
I was exposed to children with meningococcus 3 different times, and had to take prophylactic antibiotics. I took the drug that makes the urine orange for the first exposure (Rifampin), and Cipro the other 2 times.
IIRC, there are 150 or so types of meningitis agents. Was still able to culture the meningococcus from my throat years later.
The problem with the first vaccine for this (Menamune) was that it only covered a handful of subtypes, of which most were not prevalent in the US. Supposedly, this new vaccine provides better coverage for the subtypes found here.
Meningococcus is colonized in the throats of up to 20% of the general population. When a person gets an active infection, it results from the bacterium boring through the throat tissue and into the spinal fluid. If untreated, it will then get into the blood, where it is distrubuted body-wide; once this happens, it's usually pretty devastating.
In high school we had several students die one year because of Meningococcus. Some students and drank from each others drinks. The held a private screening for all students that were at that party but it was too late for some.
It's hard to get through to some people that you should NOT drink from someone else's container.
vaccination bump
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