Risk of meningococcal infection in college students.

Abstract

Neisseria meningitidis is a major cause of bacterial meningitis and other invasive infections in the United States.¹ In the past few years, there have been an increasing number of meningococcal infection outbreaks, including on college campuses.^2,3 Most of these have been caused by serogroup C N meningitidis, which is potentially vaccine preventable with the currently available tetravalent meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine.⁴ Recently, the American College Health Association issued a statement recommending that college students consider meningococcal immunization to reduce the risk of infection.⁵ Neither the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices nor the American Academy of Pediatrics has issued a recommendation for college students. No published studies are available that document the incidence of invasive meningococcal infection in college students and whether the incidence is higher than in the general population of the same age.⁶