Outbreaks of bacterial meningitis have struck two college campuses although health officials say the episodes – one on the East Coast, the other on the West Coast – appear to be unrelated.
Since mid-November, four students at the University of California, Santa Barbara, have contracted the dangerous type of bacterial meningitis known as strain B, and one of them had to have both feet amputated because the infection had disrupted circulation to his legs. The other three students have recovered, said George Foulsham, a spokesman at the university.
Students are being urged to seek medical help immediately if they have fevers, headaches, a stiff neck or flulike symptoms.
The disease, which inflames the linings of the spinal cord and brain, also infected seven students and a visitor at Princeton University from March to November. But the two outbreaks are probably coincidental, Dr. Amanda Cohn, a meningitis expert at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in an interview.
Last year there were 160 cases of strain B meningitis in the United States.
It is not clear where the disease comes from or why outbreaks occur. Fatal in about 11 percent of cases, strain B meningitis is spread by respiratory secretions, but is not considered highly contagious. Some people carry the bacteria in their throats without getting sick, but may transmit them to others who, for reasons that are not understood, are more vulnerable and become ill.
People are thought to be at risk if they have been in close contact or share cups or eating utensils with someone who became ill. Those who may have been exposed are advised to take antibiotics preventively.
About 1,000 of the 18,000 undergraduates at Santa Barbara have been given antibiotics, Foulsham said.
The meningitis vaccines that are widely used in the United States and recommended for college students do not protect against strain B. At Princeton, however, use of a vaccine called Bexsero has been recommended by health officials because the outbreak there does not seem to be dying out, Cohn said. Bexsero, already approved in Europe and Australia, has not yet been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but it has permitted use of Bexsero at Princeton, and the injections are expected to start there this week, Cohn said.
As of last week, the vaccine had not been recommended for Santa Barbara students.
