My
email to them:
Subject: bacterial meningitis
What is the newest status on schools requiring the vaccination to
prevent bacterial meningitis?
Why wasn't the information regarding this vaccine widely published?
Had this vaccination been mandatory in grades 6 and up I wouldn't have
lost my granddaughter. (Kayla L. Whitsett 7-26-87 / 05-05-05) I don't
want anyone to ever again have to suffer the pain and loss of someone
they love to this disease.
It is my (and my family's) goal to make this a required vaccination for
ALL school children. Chicken pox, no where as dangerous, is a required
vaccination to enter school. Please, PLEASE stop the tragic deaths of
our young people....make this mandatory!
Let us know if there's anything we can do to help!
At least Washington state enacted a law (July 24, 2005) requiring
meningitis education for parents of students in the sixth grade and
above at the beginning of every school year.
Montana has several television advertisements, weekly, asking their
residents to get informed.
The senators in Houston won't even answer my friend's email.
We spend hundreds of dollars per year on anti-flu shots...why not
something more lethal?
Remember it's not just college students that are in danger of getting
bacterial meningitis, it's all ages.
Let's put a stop to this quickly acting killer!
Thank you for listening,
Sharon L. Board
a grieving grandmother
REPLY
I am sorry to hear about your loss.
Meningococcal vaccine has been available in the United States since
1978 and Routine vaccination of civilians with MPV is not recommended
because of its relative ineffectiveness in children <2 years
of age (the age group with the highest risk for sporadic disease) and
because of its relatively short duration of protection.
This past January a new Meningococcal conjugate vaccine was licensed
called Menactra. The final recommendations for Menactra were released
at the end of May 2005. They can be found at the following web address.
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5407a1.htm
We have already seen activity and discussion about making this a school
entry requirement in states around the country.
Duane Kilgus, MPH, RS
Commander, US Public Health Service National Immunization program
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention