BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Two Rutgers, New Brunswick, students were diagnosed with bacterial meningitis this spring. As a precaution, the Bloomfield Department of Health has issued an alert to nurses at Bloomfield and Glen Ridge high schools that students planning on attending this college campus in the fall are advised to be vaccinated against meningitis B.
“Two undergrads were diagnosed,” Township Nurse Donna Williams said in a telephone interview earlier this week. “They were treated and so were all their contacts. The students recovered. The strain of bacterial meningitis was Neisseria meningitidis.”
The recommended vaccine is Trumenba. It will be available at the Bloomfield Department of Health. Williams said it should arrive within a week.
“This is a new vaccine for meningitis B,” Williams said. “Group B seems to be the more serious group and is associated with Neisseria meningitidis.”
The vaccine is giving in three doses. The second shot is given one to two months after the first shot; and the third shot is given six months after the second.
Because of the lapse of time between the first and second shots, Williams recommends that students who want to be vaccinated before attending the New Brunswick campus should not wait too long.
Bacterial meningitis will cause blurred vision, a stiff neck and nausea. Williams said the symptoms develop quickly and people can die from meningitis.
There may be side effects to the vaccine, according to Williams. They include a sore arm and a low-grade temperature. She said one parent already called her because their child would be attending Rutgers, New Brunswick, in the fall.
“Rutgers feels the strain is still possibly on campus,” Williams said. “They want to be proactive. It is not mandatory to get vaccinated.”
The Bloomfield Public Health nursing office can be reached at 973-680-4058.
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