new friends, new digs and sharing close quarters with complete strangers. there’s nothing quite like residence life when moving off to college or university. but before the school year ramps up, experts
recommend students ask about getting vaccinated for meningitis b so they can share dishes with their roomies in peace.
while kids in canada can get vaccinated against several different forms of
meningitis
, the meningitis b vaccine is newer and not yet included in the childhood vaccination schedule, explains dr. shelly mcneil, head of the
division of infectious diseases at the nova scotia health authority. this becomes especially important when kids go off to university or college, because the unique communal living situations in college dorms puts kids at risk for contracting the bacteria that causes meningococcal meningitis.
“young adults who go off to university are about three times higher risk of catching meningitis b than kids the same age who are not in university or college,” says mcneil. “more so if they’re in a in a dorm environment.”
meningitis
occurs when the brain or spinal cord become inflamed, which can cause serious health effects like hearing loss, cognitive disability, and even death. it can be caused by various types of infection, including bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites, with meningitis b specifically being caused by bacteria neisseria meningitidis, subtype b.