Do college students need to have meningitis vaccine?
There are 2 kinds of meningitis vaccine, a polysaccharide vaccine and a conjugate vaccine. The meningococcal conjugate vaccine is recommended for college freshmen living in dormitories. But if this form of the vaccine is not available, the polysaccharide vaccine may be given to those who wish to be vaccinated. In January 2004 a law went into effect in Georgia, requiring public and nonpublic post-secondary educational institutions to give students residing in campus housing information about meningococcal disease and vaccine. In addition, students are required to sign a document provided by the post-secondary institution stating that he or she has received a vaccination against meningococcal disease or that they have received information about meningitis and the vaccine.
