Drexel student who died from meningitis B reportedly had contact with Princeton football players who had both doses of new vaccine

[Emily]

http://dailyprincetonian.com/news/2014/03/breaking-meningitis-related-death-at-drexel-may-have-been-linked-to-contact-with-princeton-students/

By Paul Phillips ? Associate News Editor ? March 23, 2014
The Drexel University student who died March 10 from meningitis met a number of Princeton football players at a social mixer a week before her death, local health authorities said.

Stephanie Ross reportedly had close contact with one Princeton football player, Princeton Health Officer Bob Hary reported to the Princeton Health Commission on March 18, according to Planet Princeton. The student had received both doses of the meningitis vaccine. The other football players present at the mixer had been vaccinated as well.

Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Tuesday that the strain of meningitis responsible for her death was also responsible for the meningitis outbreak at Princeton.

...

?The case points out what a lot of people didn?t realize ? just because you do a human vaccination campaign, it doesn?t mean you will prevent the disease from spreading,? Hary said at the meeting. ?Some people are carriers. That is the best guess from the CDC as to how this occurred ? Does the vaccination decrease the probability of being a carrier? We are in uncharted water. Clearly from the most recent case it is not 100 percent effective.?...

Hopefully carrier students vaccinated against MenB will convert to non-carriers eventually. Research will have to be done to figure that out.

Heads up:

Contact with smokers is associated with increased risk of meningococcal disease in adolescents likely due to higher carriage rates in smokers


More on Drexel student:

PA: Meningitis B responsible in Drexel Univ. student's death