Meningitis vaccination issue raised
By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Health Writer
The death of University of Hawai'i student Travis Mitsuda last month has prompted questions about what precautions people should take against the relatively rare bacterial infection that causes meningitis.
Frequency in the United States: The incidence of bacterial meningitis is 2-3 per 100,000. Recent statistics show an increase among people 60 years and older, regardless of other factors.
The 21-year-old student had some cold-like symptoms before becoming severely ill. He died March 25 at his Kaimuki apartment while emergency medical crews tried to save him.
Meningitis symptoms
The National Meningitis Association is one of the national organizations that encourages vaccination against the disease, especially for college students who are statistically at increased risk.
The state Health Department's Disease Investigation Branch has recorded 105 cases of the disease from 1992 to 2003. Seven of those cases turned fatal, among them two college-age victims.
State epidemiologist Dr. Paul Effler has said there is no evidence that the infection spread beyond Mitsuda. Effler said the bacteria is normally present but that severe cases remain rare.
"The Health Department needs to be on the lookout," Effler said. "I don't think it's something that should stir panic in the general population."
Effler said that as a precaution, antibiotics were given to 90 people who were in close contact with Mitsuda before his death. No other illnesses have been reported.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which identified the cause of Mitsuda's death, defines meningitis as an infection of spinal cord fluid and of the fluid that surrounds the brain.
Effler said smoking appears to increase the risk of the infection.
State Health Department immunization educator Judy Strait-Jones said the state follows federal recommendations, which stop short of routinely advising teenagers to get the vaccinations. But national advocacy organizations are pushing for vaccine requirements or education laws such as those that have been passed in 27 other states. Parent advocate Mike Kepferle lost his son Joseph to the disease in 2000.
After his son died, Kepferle said he wished he'd made sure his son got the vaccination, which costs between $70 and $90. "It is not perfect, but a 70 percent protective shield is better than none," he said.
Hawai'i parents are advised to talk to their doctor about the disease and the vaccine, Strait-Jones said.
She said the recommendations do mention that "college freshmen, especially those who will live in a dormitory, are at modestly increased risk" for the disease and that immunization decreases that risk. Mitsuda, a junior, lived off-campus.
More information can be found at www.immunize.org/mening/index.htm and www.cdc.gov/nip or by calling 586-8300 on O'ahu or (800) 933-4832 on the Neighbor Islands.
Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2429.
