Healthcare Orgs Call on Big Ten Universities to Protect Students & Require Meningitis B Vaccination

BOSTON - Aug. 2, 2018 - PRLog -- Healthcare organizations from around the country are urging colleges and universities to mandate the meningitis B vaccine as part of the health requirements for entering school, and are launching a Big Ten challenge – Beware of B – to urge the schools in the Big Ten Conference to follow Indiana University and Purdue University's lead.

Currently, the following higher ed institutions require the meningitis B vaccination:

• Ball State University
• Bucknell University
• The College of New Jersey
• Indiana University
• Indiana State University
• Indiana University Purdue University – Indianapolis
• Lehigh University
• Oregon State University
• Purdue University
• Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
• Smith College
• University of Indianapolis

Students at most universities have a list of required vaccinations that likely includes the meningococcal conjugate vaccination (MenACWY), which protects against meningitis strains A, C, W and Y. MenACWY, however, leaves students unprotected against the B strain of meningitis, which accounts for 50 percent of all meningococcal cases in the U.S.

College campuses have long been considered breeding grounds for infectious diseases, including meningitis B, which is spread person-to-person through the exchange of saliva – sharing drinks or eating utensils, kissing, coughing. In fact, meningitis B is responsible for 100 percent of all meningococcal outbreaks on college campuses in the U.S. since 2011.

Earlier this week, health organizations across the country – in states where a Big Ten university is located – distributed a letter to leadership at the rest of the Big Ten universities calling for the meningitis B vaccination to be on the list of required vaccines in addition to the MenACWY shot.

The Beware of B campaign will challenge the remaining 12 Big Ten universities to follow suit and mandate the meningitis B vaccination. Beware of B was first rolled out in 2015 throughout the state of Indiana to raise awareness among parents and students that two different vaccines (MenACWY and meningitis B) are needed for full protection against the five most common types of meningococcal disease. Since then, seven schools in Indiana have added the meningitis B vaccination to the required list of vaccinations for admittance.

To receive updates on the Beware of B campaign, visit www.bewareofb.com. Learn more about the updated immunization requirements at Purdue University here (https://www.purdue.edu/push/Immunization/) and requirements at Indiana University here (https://usss.iu.edu/student-records/immunization/index.html).

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Target Big Ten Universities:

Alphabetically, by state: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Iowa, University of Maryland, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, University of Minnesota, University of Nebraska, Northwestern University, Ohio State University, Penn State University, Rutgers University, Wisconsin University