Meningitis Shot Recommended for College Freshmen

ByABC News
August 9, 2004, 10:45 AM

04 Aug 10 -- Seventeen-year-old, Corinne Czekaj, doesn't like shots. But after hearing reports earlier this year about meningococcal meningitis she knew she had to get vaccinated before starting college this fall.

Seventeen-year-old, Corinne Czekaj, doesn't like shots. But after hearing reports earlier this year about meningococcal meningitis she knew she had to get vaccinated before starting college this fall.

Meningococcal meningitis, a form of bacterial meningitis, infects the spinal cord and brain, leading to brain damage, deafness, and amputation.

College freshmen living in dormitories are six times more likely to get bacterial meningitis according to the National Meningitis Association (NMA). Hence, the American College Health Association (ACHA) recommends that coeds living in dorms be vaccinated.

But Corinne didn't head to a clinic to get the shot. Rather her mother, with the help of the Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) of Southeast Michigan, threw an "immunization party."

It's party time!

Immunization parties are a way the VNA is making college-bound students aware of meningococcal meningitis while offering a fun atmosphere to get the shot.

"I think the kids love it. It's more of a comfortable environment for them," says nurse Kay Renny, VNA's manager of community programs. "They really have a lot of fun."

The Southeast Michigan VNA is currently the only Visiting Nurse Associations of America (VNAA) member offering immunization parties.

The VNA has hosted five parties since coming up with the idea last year.

The idea was a solution to a parent's problem of being unable to bring her child to the clinic for a shot. The VNA suggested making a house call if the parent could gather at least 15 teens interested in getting the shot.

Corinne says her friends were skeptical about the party at first, but then realized it was more convenient than going to a clinic further away from home.

"At first they thought it was weird when I told them the party was at my house. But when they got there they thought it was much easier."