Meningitis Vaccinations Top 3K at Local University

More than half the student body at a local Ivy League college got the shot intended to prevent any more meningitis cases on campus.

Princeton University reports more than 3,300 students have received meningitis B vaccinations since a mass vaccination got underway on campus Monday.

That is more than half of the nearly 6,000 students that federal health officials recommended receive the shots to help stop an outbreak at the Ivy League university in New Jersey.

Seven students and a prospective student on a campus visit have been stricken by potentially life-threatening type B meningococcal disease since March. The most recent case occurred last month. None has been fatal.

A vaccine not yet licensed in the U.S. but approved in Canada, Europe and Australia is being given with federal approval to undergraduates and graduate students living in dorms.

The first dose is being offered through Thursday, and a second dose in February.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
Contact Us