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SAN DIEGO – County health officials have declared an epidemic of meningococcal meningitis on the SDSU campus after the hospitalization of a second student during this semester, it was announced Friday.
On September 25, the California Department of Public Health confirmed that the disease was caused by meningococcal serogroup B, the same bacterium that hospitalized an undergraduate student this month.
Officials who have been in close contact with the student have been identified and given antibiotics to prevent the disease.
Symptoms include fever, severe headaches, lethargy and stiff neck, according to health officials.
During the summer holidays, a third undergraduate student who lived off campus also contracted the bacteria.
Officials recommend that all under-24 students who have not been vaccinated be vaccinated with one of two meningococcal B vaccines.
"Although most SDSU students have been vaccinated with a quadrivalent meningococcal vaccine during adolescence, many have not received the serogroup B vaccine needed to protect themselves from the bacteria responsible for these recent diseases," said Wilma Wooten. MPH, County Public Health Officer. "Meningococcal disease can be serious and deadly, so we want everyone to be alert to the symptoms and seek care, if necessary."
Ten cases of meningococcal disease have been reported in San Diego County this year, the highest number reported since 2013, according to county health officials.
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