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Diseases prompt concern
Due to lack of policy, Health Center advises student vaccinations
By Ruthanne Johnson
rjohn180@mscd.edu

Photo by Heather A. Longway-Burke • longway@mscd.edu Mark Mather watches as Julie Klarich, an occupational therapist, checks his arm on his first day of outpatient therapy at Presbyterian/St. Luke’s Medical Center in the Outpatient Therapy Office in Denver on Aug. 29. Mather had both arms and legs amputated after contracting meningococcemia, a rare infection that caused necrosis of his tissue.

After contracting a rare bacterial infection called meningococcemia in May 2006, 20-year-old Metro student Mark Mather’s heart stopped – twice. He survived, but has since had both arms and legs amputated due to tissue necrosis after the disease raged through his bloodstream.

Most likely, the disease could have been prevented by a meningococcal vaccination.

Each year, children living in the United States are inoculated in droves against infectious diseases such as whooping cough, tetanus, mumps, measles, chickenpox, influenza, hepatitis, polio and meningitis.

But immunity obtained from childhood vaccinations can diminish over time, leaving adults unknowingly susceptible.

Experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that children, teens and adults follow an immunization schedule as a continued preventative measure.

Despite the availability of vaccinations, the CDC reports around 350 cases of mumps annually, 6,000-18,000 cases of whooping cough and 2,600 cases of meningococcal disease, with more incidents reported from congregate settings such as schools, daycares, military installations and college campuses and dormitories.

According to the CDC website, death occurs in five percent of children with influenza, five percent with whooping cough and 10 to 14 percent of people with meningococcal disease. Most meningococcal disease survivors suffer complications such as brain damage, hearing loss, blindness, kidney failure or amputated limbs.

Colorado state law and Health Department regulations require colleges that have dormitories on campus to obtain official proof from students of immunity against measles, mumps and rubella.

Students at commuter colleges, such as Metro, have no immunization requirements. State law also mandates that students at traditional college campuses sign a form that familiarizes them with the symptoms, dangers and high risk factors of contracting meningococcal disease. Despite the swiftness and severity of the disease, state law does not require schools or colleges to mandate student immunization against meningococcal disease.

Recognizing the lack of public awareness and policies about meningococcemia, Mather held a press conference in late July to tell others of his experience and the real dangers of the disease. He urged all college students to consider immunization as well as familiarizing themselves with the early warning signs of meningococcemia.

Assistant director of the Health Center at Auraria, Martha Eaton, said that while immunization for Metro students is not required, she advocates immunization in general, especially for college students living in dorms or for anyone working, living or spending any amount of time in a congregate setting.

Mather contracted the infection while living at home.

After the meningitis-related death of a female Metro student in 2003, the Mather case in 2006 and a national surge of mumps and whooping cough, officials at the Health Center formed an Immunization Task Force to examine urrent policy and investigate whether change is needed. “We want to assure that we provide a healthy environment for everyone on campus,” Eaton said, adding that three of her own children have had the vaccination against meningococcal disease.

Although Mather sought treatment at a conventional hospital, his mother called the Health Center out of a desire to protect others on campus. But it was determined by the state health department that there was no risk to Auraria students, Eaton said.

“If we receive notification from the health department of potential exposure, we would pull the student’s class schedule and go to each class to talk with the students and faculty member about the disease’s symptoms and where they can get vaccinated,” Eaton said of Metro’s policy toward infectious disease control. She added that about 11 percent of the population are unwitting carriers of the bacteria.

The state health department notified and checked out those who had been in close contact with Mather around the time he contracted the disease, and so far their findings have been inconclusive.

Although there is a national shortage at this time, the meningococcal vaccine is available at the Health Center and costs $95 per student, Eaton said. Students can also go to any county clinic and pay anywhere from $15 to $120 for the vaccination through the Vaccines for Children program.

For more information about infectious diseases and the CDC-suggested immunization schedule, log on to the CDC website at www.cdc.gov/nip/publications/acip-list.htm. The Health Center web page also provides a recommended immunization schedule, and the Health Center staff is trained in and receives ongoing education on the many aspects of infectious diseases, such as risk factors, signs, symptoms and inoculations.

The Health Center provides all immunizations except for chicken pox and injectable polio, but immunizations for these are available at any county clinic. The Health Center is located in Plaza 150 and can be contacted at 303-556-2525.