Infectious Disease
Party school ranking, campus Greek life increase meningococcal risk for college students
December 08, 2023
” data-action=subscribe>
Subscribe
Key takeaways:
- Serogroup B meningococcal disease incidence was 4-fold higher in undergraduate students.
- First-year students, those living in residence halls, and those affiliated with Greek life were also at an increased risk.
Researchers determined that first-year college students living on campus and/or affiliated with campus Greek life have an increased risk for meningococcal disease.
Weil LM, et al. Open Forum Infect Dis. 2023;doi:10.1093/ofid/ofad607.
“We wanted to better understand which college students were most at risk for meningococcal disease, both during outbreaks and otherwise,” she said.
McNamara said that they believed this information could help colleges make decisions about where to focus vaccination efforts during outbreaks and would also help adolescents, their families, and their providers decide whether to vaccinate the adolescents with a serogroup B meningococcal vaccine, which, she added, is recommended by Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
To assess which groups of college students could be at an increased risk for meningococcal disease, the researchers assessed all U.S. cases recorded between 2014 and 2017 among people aged 18 to 24 years. According to the study, the researchers determined and compared incidence rates between different student and non-student populations.
During the study period, 229 cases of meningococcal disease were reported. Of these cases, 120 were undergraduate students, 74% of which were serogroup B. The researchers found that serogroup B meningococcal disease incidence was four-fold higher in undergraduate students, 11.8-fold higher among first-year undergraduate students, and 8.6-fold higher among students living in residence halls vs. non-undergraduates.
They also determined that 54% of outbreak cases were among students affiliated with Greek life, yielding a 9.8-fold higher risk of disease during outbreaks compared with other students. Additionally, a significantly higher mean “party school ranking” (P < .05), as ranked by the website niche.com, was seen in colleges with either sporadic cases or outbreak cases when compared to colleges with no meningococcal disease cases.
“Adolescents who are planning to attend a 4-year undergraduate institution, particularly those planning to live on campus or participate in Greek life, are at increased risk of serogroup B disease and may therefore be more likely to benefit from serogroup B vaccination,” she said.
Published by:
” data-action=subscribe>
Subscribe
