What Parents Need To Know + Do About Meningitis

Disclosure: This post reflects a compensated editorial partnership with GSK, a science-led global healthcare company with a special purpose: to help people do more, feel better, live longer. For further information please visit GSK. And visit meningitisb.com for more information. All opinions in this post are, as always, my own!

I have always been pro-vaccination, and as I have slogged through the pandemic—knowing that, hello, science takes time—I have repeatedly thought about how grateful I am for existing vaccines. And one of the types of vaccines I think about often is one that isn’t on the radar for many parents: Meningitis B vaccination. If you are a parent of adolescents/young adults, please read this post in its entirety!

Before I get into the nitty gritty about meningococcal disease (a/k/a “meningitis”) + vaccination I want to share why I care so much about it. A few years back, I attended a conference where I learned about meningitis from Jamie Schanbaum, a GSK spokesperson and meningitis survivor, and her mother, Patsy Schanbaum. The spirit of these two women is simply amazing; I know it’s not the same as meeting them in real life, but there’s an embedded video below if you’d like to fall in love with Jamie and Patsy via the Internet! Jamie was 20 years old and a college student when she was rushed to a hospital and eventually diagnosed with meningococcal septicemia. Jamie survived but the infection led to amputation of her legs and fingers. And while Jamie has basically crushed life since recovering from the disease—she’s an advocate for meningitis vaccination, worked to pass Texas Senate Bill 819 (The Jamie Schanbaum Act) that requires meningitis (A, C, W, Y) vaccinations for college students, and performed on the USA Paralympic Cycling team in 2011—there are now two different types of vaccinations available to help prevent this disease.

IF MENINGITIS IS SO DEVASTATING WHY HAVEN’T I HEARD OF IT?

In a nutshell, if you haven’t heard of meningococcal meningitis (commonly known as meningitis), it’s likely due to prevalence. The disease is uncommon, yes, but it’s potentially life-threatening.[1] One in 10 people infected with meningitis die, despite treatment,[2] and up to 1 in 5 of meningitis survivors suffer long-term consequences, such as brain damage, amputations, hearing loss and nervous system problems.[3]

While many colleges require MenACWY vaccination, MenB vaccination has only been available since 2014, and most colleges do not require it.[4]

WHO DOES MENINGITIS AFFECT?

If you have kids ages 11 to 23, it’s time to pause and get educated; and don’t worry, I’m here to make the basics easy for you! Even though we’re in the middle of a pandemic and contact is supposed to be nonexistent, we already know based on outbreaks and contact tracing that contact is, in fact, happening. Teens and young adults are at an increased risk for contracting meningitis because it can spread through certain common behaviors such as living in close quarters like college dormitories, coughing, sneezing, kissing, and sharing drinks, utensils, or smoking devices.[1],[5]

For Meningitis B, studies have shown that between 2014 to 2017, the relative risk of contracting meningitis B was 3.5 to 5 times higher in college students aged 18-24 years compared with peers not attending college.[6],[7],*† And from 2011 through March 2019, meningitis B caused all US college meningococcal outbreaks, which involved 13 campuses, 50 cases, and 2 deaths among an at-risk population of approximately 253,000 students.[6]

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF MENINGITIS?

In addition to teens and young adults being at an increased risk, another tricky thing about meningitis is that early symptoms may be similar to those of the flu, but those symptoms can then progress quickly and be fatal, sometimes within 24 hours.[2],[8] Here’s a visual:

TWO-MINUTE ACTION #1: LEARN ABOUT THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF MENINGITIS VACCINES

There are statistics, from a recent online survey by GSK/IPSOS, that support the facts that: 1) 75% of the 1500 parents surveyed are unaware of, or confused about, the vaccines available for meningitis and whether their kid has been vaccinated, and 2) 31% of parents surveyed whose child had not been vaccinated said their doctor didn’t discuss meningitis.[9] So the first simple, two-minute action to take is to read the next few sentences to learn about the meningitis vaccines.

There are two different types of vaccines to help protect against the most common types of meningitis: A, C, W, Y (MenACWY vaccination) and B (MenB vaccination).[10] According to CDC, MenACWY vaccination is for 11-12 year olds (plus a booster shot at age 16),[12] and MenB vaccination may be given to16-23 year olds (preferably ages 16-18) based on shared clinical decision making.[13] It’s important to note that even if your child received MenACWY vaccination, they may not have received MenB vaccination, as it wasn’t available until late 2014.[10],[11] Please also note that vaccination may not protect all recipients.

THREE-MINUTE ACTION #2: CHECK YOUR ADOLESCENT/Teen’s VACCINATION RECORDS AND/OR CALL THEIR DOCTOR

The second simple, two-minute action to take is to check your child’s vaccination records and/or call their doctor. When I first learned about meningitis via the session I sat in on with Jamie and Patsy, the first thing I did since I was traveling was text my husband to ask if he could look at Laurel’s vaccination records. But if your record keeping has slid during the pandemic (or just because, well, LIFE), call their doctor and ask about MenACWY and MenB vaccinations.[12],[13] Added bonus, you can ask your doctor about any other CDC-recommended vaccines.

Also, if you’re worried about going to the doctor’s office, I FEEL YOU. Call and ask about their protocol! Even though I have been super cautious during the pandemic (for example, it took 6 months before I was willing to sit at an outdoor patio and that was only because we were celebrating a milestone birthday), we have needed to go to both the dentist and pediatrician for urgent issues in the last couple of months and in both cases, I was amazed by how well both offices nailed the flow and protocol. I basically touched nothing and saw almost no one else during the visits. 

OK, so, two actions, and you already did one of them by reading this post! Go get it! And if you have fellow parent friends with kids in the 11-13 or 16-23 year age brackets, please share this information with them!

Footnotes

*0.17 cases in college students vs. 0.05 cases in peers not attending college per 100,000 population in 2014-2016 (also see footnote 9)

†0.22 cases in college students vs. 0.04 cases in peers not attending college per 100,000 population in 2015-2017 (also see footnote 8)

[1] Manual for the Surveillance of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases: Chapter 8: Meningococcal Disease. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/surv-manual/chpt08-mening.html. Reviewed December 2019. Accessed November 2020.

[2] Pelton SI. Meningococcal disease awareness: clinical and epidemiological factors affecting prevention and management in adolescents. J Adolesc Health. 2010;46:S9-S15

[3] Meningococcal Disease: Clinical Information. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. https://www.cdc.gov/meningococcal/clinical-info.html. Reviewed May 31, 2019. Accessed November 2020.

[4] Vaccines and Preventable Diseases. Meningococcal Vaccination for Adolescents: Information for Healthcare Professionals. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/mening/hcp/adolescent-vaccine.html. Reviewed July 26, 2019. Accessed November 2020.

[5] Meningitis. Overview. Mayo Clinic website. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/meningitis/symptoms-causes/syc-20350508. Updated October 1, 2020. Accessed November 2020.

[6] Gary S Marshall, Amanda F Dempsey, Amit Srivastava, Raul E Isturiz, US College Students Are at Increased Risk for Serogroup B Meningococcal Disease, Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society,piz024, https://doi.org/10.1093/jpids/piz024

[7] Sarah A. Mbaeyi, Sandeep J. Joseph, et al. Meningococcal Disease Among College-Aged Young Adults: 2014-2016. Pediatrics. 2019; 143.

[8] Meningococcal Disease: Signs and Symptoms. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. https://www.cdc.gov/meningococcal/about/symptoms.html. Updated June 2017. Accessed November 2020.

[9] Findings of Ipsos survey conducted in the United States during the months of February and March 2020. The survey included 1,500 parents of teens/young adults age 16-23. Funding for the survey was provided by GSK.

[10] Vaccines and Preventable Diseases. Meningococcal Vaccination for Adolescents: Information for Healthcare Professionals. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/mening/hcp/adolescent-vaccine.html. Reviewed July 26, 2019. Accessed November 2020.

[11] National, Regional, State, and Selected Local Area Vaccination Coverage Among Adolescents Aged 13–17 Years — United States, 2019. 2020; 69(33). Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/pdfs/mm6933-H.pdf. Reviewed August 21, 2020. Accessed November 2020.

[12] Vaccine Information Statements (VISs): Meningococcal ACWY VIS. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/vis/vis-statements/mening.html. Updated August 2019. Accessed November 2020.

[13] Vaccine Information Statements (VISs): Meningococcal B VIS. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/vis/vis-statements/mening-serogroup.html. Updated August 2019. Accessed November 2020.