Princeton University next month will begin offering students a vaccine that is not approved in the United States.
By Charles W. Kim and Philip Sean Curran, Packet Media Group
In the face of a meningitis outbreak, Princeton University next month will begin offering students a vaccine that is not approved in the United States.
The decision, announced Monday, came after the school’s Board of Trustees discussed the issue at its meeting Saturday. Since March, there have been seven cases of meningococcal disease involving six students and one campus visitor. In all of them, the same kind of bacteria, type B, was identified, although there was no other common link between the people who got sick.
The latest case, a male student who lives on campus, was hospitalized Nov. 10 after falling ill the day before, according to the university.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the Food and Drug Administration gave the green light last week to allow for a vaccine for Bexsero, a type B meningitis made by pharmaceutical giant Novartis, that is licensed only in Europe and Australia. CDC spokeswoman Sharon K.D. Hoskins said Monday that the CDC had to apply “under the FDA’s investigational new drug program” to allow “the vaccine to be imported for this limited use.”
The CDC will recommend that all undergraduates, regardless of where they live, graduate students who live in dorms and other members of the university community living with certain medical conditions get vaccinated, the university said. The recommendation could come at any time.
”Pending final CDC approval, the university is prepared to accept these recommendations and made arrangements to provide access to this vaccine as soon as possible,” Princeton spokesman Martin A. Mbugua said Monday in reading a prepared statement to reporters.
The first of two doses will be administered in December, followed by another one, perhaps in February, Mr. Mbugua said. He said two doses are required for “maximum protection.”
Maxim Health Systems, the firm that runs the school’s flu clinic, will administer the vaccine. Dates were not announced for when the vaccine will be given out. The university will pick up the costs, although students under 18 must get a parent or guardian to sign a permission slip.
Mr. Mbugua did not take reporters’ questions.
He said the state Department of Health and the CDC “have not recommended canceling or altering events on campus.”
George DiFerdinando Jr., chairman of the Princeton Board of Health, said Monday that there has been no spread of meningitis outside of campus.
”From the beginning, the New Jersey Department of Health has been working with Princeton University and the local health department to mitigate the meningitis outbreak,” said Dawn Thomas, a spokeswoman for the department of health. “The Department of Health will continue working with Princeton University and the CDC in a supportive role to address the situation in a timely and responsible manner.”
”The outbreak at Princeton is the first university outbreak of B strain meningitis since the new vaccines was licensed for use in Europe and Australia,” Ms. Hoskins said.
Asked about side effects of Bexsero, she replied: “More than 8,000 infants, children, adolescents, and adults were safely vaccinated with the vaccine as part of the studies that resulted in its approval in Europe and Australia.
”The most common side effects take place where the shot was given (in the arm), which can include pain and tenderness, swelling, and hardness of the skin. Other common side effects for adolescents and young adults include nausea, generally feeling unwell, and having a headache.”
In addition to the student this month, the other cases include: a female student who developed symptoms following spring break in March, an out-of-state visitor to the campus in April, a male student in May, a male student that developed symptoms in May after going home for the summer, a male student in June while abroad, and a female student that developed symptoms Oct.1, according to the state.
The first six cases were found to have meningococcal bacteria type B and have all since recovered, the university said.
According to the CDC, bacterial meningitis is usually severe, requiring hospitalization. While most people recover, it can cause serious complications such as brain damage, hearing loss or learning disabilities.
The condition, according to the CDC, means the lining of the brain and spinal cord have become infected with these bacteria. But these bacteria can also cause other severe illnesses, like bloodstream infections.
The disease is spread through the exchange of respiratory and throat secretions like spit, living in close quarters or by kissing, according to the agency.
College students living together in dormitories and military personnel are at an increased risk for the disease.
Symptoms including a fever, headache and stiff neck usually develop in three to seven days from being exposed to the bacteria, but can also appear suddenly and may also include other symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, increased sensitivity to light and even confusion, according to the CDC.
Healthy people can carry the bacteria in their nose or throat without getting sick, and most do not come down with the disease.
”It takes extended contact (between people) to transmit,” CDC spokeswoman Barbara Reynolds said. “It requires much close contact.”
Ms. Reynolds said that there is little chance that the community as a whole would be in danger of a larger outbreak because of the difficulty in transmitting the illness.
Despite assurances, local businesses are staying aware of the situation and taking precautions on their own.
”We brought it up at the manager’s meeting on Wednesday,” small world coffee co-owner Jessica Durrie said Saturday. “To make sure all the managers knew there was an outbreak.”
The Witherspoon Street business has been in the community for 20 years and employs 35 people. The university contributes about 20 percent of its business, Ms. Durrie said.
”We are going into extra, extra, super-duper hygiene mode,” she said. “We will keep an eye on what is going on and hopefully no one else gets sick.”
Students walking on Nassau Street during Saturday’s homecoming festivities, including Alumni Weekend and a home football game against Yale, said they were following the advice from the university, but were not overly concerned about the outbreak.