Meningococcal infection causes severe headache, loss of appetite, and neck rigidity.
It can be fatal. The rate for the general population 18-22 years old was 1.44 per 100,000. Meningococcal infection outbreaks have increased in the past few years. Most of the outbreaks were caused by serogroup C N. meningitis, for which there is an available vaccine. The study's primary purpose was to compare the rate of infection among college students as compared to the general population of the same age.