For the past several years, Dr. E.F. Joseph Siebold, director of the Student Health Service, has been actively working with UD students and their parents to inform them about meningococcal disease and the nationwide push to require vaccinations against this serious illness.

That information sharing has now taken an official turn with a 2001 state law that requires all students admitted to the UD to be informed about meningococccal meningitis and the availability and benefits of vaccination. According to Siebold, newly admitted students must agree to be vaccinated for meningococcal meningitis or sign a waiver and return it with their required health history and immunization forms.

Information on this bacterial disease, which can kill or cause serious complications, was provided at all DelaWorld sessions for new students and their parents this summer. "Parents were alerted about the increased incidence of this disease among college students," Siebold says, adding that between September 1998 and August 1999, there were 96 cases of meningococcal disease detected in college students nationally. (In 2000, a UD student was treated for bacterial meningitis and recovered.)

Siebold said that the students can be vaccinated by their own physicians or receive the vaccine at the Student Health Service. He said that eight to 12 students came to the center to be vaccinated each day during DelaWorld.

Meningococcal meningitis is a rare but serious invasive bacterial infection that causes an inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord.

"Some investigations suggest that the risk of contracting the disease is increased by lifestyle behaviors common for many college students, such as active and passive smoking, bar patronage and excessive alcohol consumption," Siebold said. "The disease is transmitted through the air via sneezing or coughing and direct contact with persons infected. Because college students live in close quarters such as residence halls or fraternity houses, they have an increased risk of contracting meningococcal meningitis."

Over the past two years, similar legislation requiring notification about this communicable disease and the availability of a safe and effective vaccination was passed in New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia.