It is very difficult to detect meningitis in the beginning. In that time, patients can enter the critical phases of the disease. An estimated ten to 13 percent of those afflicted die, and approximately ten percent of survivors experience severe disabilities as a result. There were over 600 cases of meningitis in 1996 in people between the ages of 15 and 24, doubling the amount since 1986. The two demographic groups most susceptible to meningitis are children under the age of five and college students living in dormitories.
College students are five times more likely to become infected than healthy adults.
According to Tom Skinner a spokesman for the CDC, meningitis affects college students more than most other people because of their close living conditions in dormitories, often combined with poor eating habits, smoking, binge drinking and a lack of exercise. There are antibiotics and a vaccine that fight meningitis. The antibiotics are recommended for all people diagnosed with meningococcal meningitis or those who may have been exposed to it. Although the vaccine prevents many cases of meningitis, it is not perfect. The problem with the meningococcal meningitis vaccine is that it only covers certain strains.