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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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Atlanta, GA | Posted: July 29, 2015
Even though there have been no recently reported cases of meningitis at Georgia Tech, meningitis did make news during the past year due to outbreaks at other college campuses across the United States.
Meningitis, specifically meningococcal meningitis, is a rare but serious and potentially fatal disease. There has long been a vaccine (MCV4) available that can prevent meningitis caused by Serogroups A, C, Y and W.
The MCV4 vaccine has also long been required for Georgia Tech students because college age young adults are at a higher risk of meningococcal meningitis than other age groups.
New Vaccines Available for MenB Meningitis
MenB causes approximately one-third of the bacterial meningitis cases in the United States and until recently, there was no vaccine available. Newly developed vaccines against Serogroup B (MenB) have recently been approved by the FDA (U.S. Food & Drug Administration).
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently announced its recommendation for the MenB vaccine series:
While MenB vaccine is not currently required at Georgia Tech, it is recommended and available. Costs for the meningitis vaccines are determined by which series the student receives and whether the entire series is administered at Georgia Tech or if the student only needs one shot to complete the series.
More about Meningitis
Pfizer (distributor one of the meningitis vaccines) has developed a video of a student describing his experience with meningitis at https://www.facebook.com/MeetMeningitis/videos/994367453909911/
For more information on meningitis and the meningitis vaccines, visit the CDC website http://www.cdc.gov/meningitis/index.html or contact Stamps Health Services Immunization Clinic http://health.gatech.edu/immunization/Pages/default.aspx or email
debbie.spillers@health.gatech.edu
