Meningitis Outbreak: Princeton NJ 8 cases; UC Berkley CA 3 cases

**presence** · 11-23-2013, 07:59 PM

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/3...is-4999391.php

3 UC Santa Barbara students sick from meningitis

Published 2:16 pm, Thursday, November 21, 2013

0

0
inShare

Larger | Smaller

Printable Version

Email This

Font

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) — A bacterial meningitis outbreak has sickened three students at the University of California, Santa Barbara, health officials said Thursday.
Over 300 students who had close contact with the ill students were given antibiotics, said Charity Thoman, deputy health officer at the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department.
The latest case involved a female student who was diagnosed with meningococcal disease earlier this week. Last week, two male students fell ill. None of the cases have been fatal.
"We've been on high alert,"

http://dailyprincetonian.com/news/20...eton-reported/

Eighth case of meningitis at Princeton reported; will not affect vaccination plans

By Emily Tseng • Managing Editor • November 22, 2013

A female student was diagnosed with meningitis and hospitalized on Thursday in the eighth case of the disease to strike the University community since March.

The student developed symptoms of the disease on Wednesday night, when she went to University Health Services at McCosh Health Center. Health personnel will conduct tests to determine whether her case is related to the seven cases of meningitis that have occurred at the University this year, all of which were caused by meningococcal serotype B. The University has issued a health advisory to all students and parents.
The latest case is not expected to change authorities’ response to the outbreak or their plans, announced in the past week, for a vaccination campaign, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control spokesperson Alison Patti.
Patti added that the CDC will not recommend that the vaccine be mandatory. It will be made available free of charge to all undergraduates, all graduate students who live in dormitories and other University community members who have existing medical conditions predisposing them to meningococcal disease.
The CDC has been working with state, local and University officials since the third case of the outbreak was reported in May. The University announced Monday that, pending final CDC approval, it would be sponsoring two rounds of Bexsero, a meningitis B vaccination not yet licensed in the United States, for use against the Princeton outbreak.

http://cronkitenewsonline.com/2013/1...ses-this-year/

Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013
By Kay Miller Temple
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Arizona has seen three cases this year involving the rare bacteria behind Princeton University’s outbreak of meningococcal disease, a state health official said Tuesday.

**angelatc** · 11-23-2013, 08:24 PM

She's really lucky in a way that they're aware of a meningitis epidemic. It is not one of the first thing doctors look for, which means it can do a lot of damage by the time they figure it out.

**pcosmar** · 11-24-2013, 08:54 AM

Quite a fortunate outbreak.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...96N0JF20130724

Novartis vaccine division hit by Bexsero setback

The UK Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) said on Wednesday that it had taken the interim decision not to recommend Bexsero because the vaccine is unlikely to prove cost-effective.

Bexsero won European approval this year to become the first vaccine against "MenB", a bacterial infection that can kill in 24 hours and poses the greatest risk to infants.

The declining incidence of MenB, however, means that cash-strapped governments may be reluctant to administer the vaccine broadly as a preventative measure.

**donnay** · 11-24-2013, 08:55 AM

Mainstream media unleashes bizarre fear mongering over meningitis, calling seven students an 'outbreak'

by: J. D. Heyes

There isn't a day that goes by without someone or some entity attempting to scare the bejesus out of us, and it's never without ulterior motives.

This time, it's the media again, and they are screaming about a meningitis "outbreak" that, so far, has involved a grand total of seven people.

A medical ethics professor writing for NBC News has used terms and phrases like "emergency" and "feared disease" to describe what has happened to seven students at Princeton University, even going so far as to frame the incidents as some sort of major health threat in the making in order to stump for - wait for it - immunization.

Arthur Caplan, PhD, writes this for NBC News:

Emergency doses of a vaccine are on the way to Princeton University to halt a meningitis outbreak there that has already sickened seven students. There are approved meningitis vaccines available, but they do not protect against serogroup B meningitis. New Jersey state law requires college students to receive a licensed meningococcal vaccination although, sadly and sometimes tragically, enforcement is often lacking. However, failure to vaccinate is not the problem with this outbreak. Current FDA-licensed vaccines only protect against meningitis types A, C, Y and W-135, not B - the source of the outbreak at Princeton.

Why is everything a 'crisis'?

He goes on to write that, as of last week, our imperial government has "agreed" to import one type of vaccine, Bexsero, which is manufactured by Novartis and licensed in Europe and Australia. It ostensibly protects against meningitis B.

The fear-mongering continues:

Meningitis B is a nasty bacterial infection. The B strain is the leading cause of meningitis across Europe, particularly in infants. Although rare, the disease is feared because it can rapidly sicken otherwise healthy people without warning. Symptoms often resemble the flu, making this form of meningitis hard to diagnose. About one in 10 of those who get meningitis B in Europe die despite efforts to treat them. Up to one in five may suffer from brain damage, hearing impairment or lose a limb. Prevention, not treatment, is the best way to go for this disease.

Well, we agree on one thing - prevention is better than a vaccine.

Caplan says the disease is contracted via prolonged exposure to coughing and sneezing in places like college dorms, military barracks and other small areas with high concentrations of people. The bacteria can also be spread through exchange of respiratory and throat secretions - sex is perhaps the primary mechanism. Sharing cups, toothbrushes and other types of hygiene exposure are also culprits, he writes.

But then he goes back to pushing the vaccine and talking about an "outbreak":

The good news is that the vaccine appears to be very safe. But if you look at the studies that were done to receive approval in Europe, nearly all of them were done in infants or children. One was done in Chile on young adults and that one was on the small side as vaccine trials go.

If my kid was at Princeton, I would want him vaccinated. That said, the question arises: Given the reality of an outbreak, what should those getting the vaccine be told?

Time for Uncle Sam to get out of the way, at least

Caplan does make a good point for medical freedom, however. He says that, if a vaccine hasn't been blessed by government bureaucracy, patients should nevertheless have access to it if they they want it:

In general, when using a drug or device that has not been approved by the FDA or other federal advisory agencies, those who are offered the vaccine should be treated more like research subjects than patients. They should be told all the facts about the vaccine, why it has not been approved in the U.S. and about the all too real threat that meningitis B poses. They should be given the opportunity to ask questions. There is a duty to try and monitor those who get the vaccine or, at least a representative sample, to watch for both efficacy and safety even if there is little reason to worry about any problems.

Seven people does not an outbreak "emergency" make, but Caplan does at least have the right idea about treatment options. If only we could get the government out of the way.

Sources:

http://www.nbcnews.com

http://www.businessweek.com

http://abcnews.go.com

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/042982_me...#ixzz2lZhCPyDE

**Zippyjuan** · 11-24-2013, 03:26 PM

The Prinston vaccine program is voluntary. Menengitis is highly contageous and if you get it you have a very high chance of either dying or getting some form of paralysis.

Memengitis contaminated steriods recently infected 750 and killed 64. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...arges/3691943/

A federal grand jury in Boston has been investigating the New England Compounding Center for more than a year. A separate grand jury in Minnesota also has been conducting an investigation.

"They have to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," said Thompson, 58, of Howell, Mich., who was hospitalized for 38 days with meningitis after receiving a steroid injection for back pain. "They were totally irresponsible."

Since the contaminated steroids were first discovered, 751 people in 20 states have developed fungal meningitis or other infections, including 64 who died. Michigan, Tennessee and Indiana were the hardest-hit states.