Institutions of higher education are not required by this law to provide or pay for vaccinations for meningococcal disease. Click here to download and view a sample Meningococcal disease information sheet and sample waiver form in Adobe Acrobat 4.0 format. Meningococcal disease is a rare but life threatening illness, caused by the bacterium, Neisseria meningitidis. The most severe form of the disease is meningococcemia, infection of the bloodstream by this bacterium. Deaths from meningococcal disease have occurred among Maryland college students in recent years.
Students living in dormitories or residence halls are at increased risk.
The Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene encourages meningococcal vaccination of higher education students. The vaccine is not effective in preventing all types of the disease, but it does help to protect many people who might become sick if they don't get the vaccine. Drugs such as penicillin can be used to treat meningococcal infection. Still, about one out of every ten people who get the disease dies from it, and many others are affected for life. A vaccine, like any medicine, is capable of causing serious problems, such as severe allergic reaction.