Student Health Services is urging all new students to prepare for the Fall semeseter by being vaccinated for meninigococcal meningitis.
Meningitis, a bacterial infection which can cause severe swelling of the brain and spinal cord, is a rare disease that is often mistaken for a small cold or the flu and is ignored. One in five people who develop the disease will die, with the highest risk ages being 18 to 24.
Vaccinations are being offered for $80 by an outside company called The Shot Nurse, which is co-owned by U of M alumna Genevieve Posey. The shot is available from 1 to 2 p.m. on July 16, 19, 23, 26 and Aug. 6.
“If it was me or my child, I would always go the route of preventing a deadly disease rather than taking the chance of getting it,” Posey said.
Once given, the shot protects for a three- to five-year period.
—Bryan Newcomb
