All Posts Tagged With: "meningitis"
St. Paddy’s warning, student-funded bullets & #IAW
What students are talking about today (March 14th)
Emily Stanchfield/Flick
1. Here’s a reminder of how student governments in the United States have much different concerns than our own. The student congress of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill recently changed the rules to make it harder for campus gun clubs to use student money to buy ammunition, reports Mother Jones. Following high-profile mass shootings on campuses, a number of states have passed laws preventing concealed guns on campus. More controversially, others, like Colorado and Utah, have laws that require colleges to allow concealed weapons.
2. Student newspapers across Canada, from The Argosy at Mount Allison University in New Brunswick to The Meliorist at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta are publishing odes to St. Patrick, whose holiday for Irish Canadians and those who drink too much is coming up on Sunday. Meanwhile, Western University, in the town that hosted the famous St. Patty’s Day Riot last March, is offering some tips. Some are no brainers, like, have a plan of how you’ll get home (transit? taxi?) and don’t leave drinks unattended. More interesting are the reminders from Campus Police that keg parties are illegal, that drinking underage can lead to $125 tickets and that London’s new Nuisance Party Bylaw means rowdy hosts can face $500 fines. The lesson? Go to someone else’s party.
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University of Victoria student dies of meningitis
Texas requires vaccines
The University of Victoria mourned Wednesday at a funeral service on campus for a student, Leo Chan, who died on Jan. 18 from meningococcal disease, also known as bacterial meningitis.
The disease kills roughly one-tenth of those who get sick and disables another 10 per cent.
Because of the elevated risk in young people who are in close contact with each other, a new law in Texas requires that all students under the age of 30 have proof of vaccination by Jan. 31.
Health Canada recommends vaccinations for children under five, adolescents, and young adults. Coverage varies by province. Some meningitis vaccines are free in Ontario for those aged 15 to 19.
An average of 298 cases are reported annually in Canada. Symptoms include weakness, fatigue, fever, vomiting, stiff neck and sometimes a blotchy rash. The disease spreads mainly among people who are in close contact with each other and swap saliva through smoking, drinks, food or kissing.
Chan lived in on-campus housing. Nineteen people who are at risk of exposure have been given preventative antibiotics, Vancouver Island Health Authority officials told Saanich News.
B.C. student may have died of meningitis
Rare disease kills one in 10 who get it
Thompson Rivers University is warning staff and students after a fourth-year theatre student, Bradley Munro, died of what appears to have been meningitis. Meningitis is a swelling of the brain that is caused by viruses or bacteria. The more rare bacterial form (Meningococcal meningitis) causes death in roughly 10 per cent of those who get sick and permanent damage, such as deafness, in another 10 per cent. There are between 160 and 350 cases reported in this country each year, says Health Canada. The disease is contagious and signs of infection include vomiting, fever, severe headache and stiff neck. Gov. Rick Perry of Texas signed a law earlier this year that will make his state the first to require that all university and college students be vaccinated against the disease.
Texas first to require vaccine for students
Rare disease kills 10 per cent of victims: Health Canada
Photo courtesy of skippyjon on Flickr
Texas is the first state to require that everyone who attends college in person be vaccinated against meningococcal meningitis (also known as bacterial meningitis), reports the Texas Tribune.
Gov. Rick Perry signed the bill in May and it will take effect in January 2012. One Republican state representative, Charlie Howard, lost a son to the disease and supported the bill. But other Republicans saw the new law as an intrusion into family health decisions and therefore opposed it.
Meningococcal meningitis is rare, but often deadly or debilitating. It kills roughly 10 per cent of those who get sick and causes permanent damage, such as deafness, in another 10 per cent, says Health Canada. The number of cases reported in Canada ranges from 160 to 350 per year. There was an outbreak of the disease in 2001.
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