12/03/2018
DPH Statement on Confirmed Case of Meningococcal Meningitis Type B in One Student at Central Connecticut State University (CCSU)
The following is a statement from Connecticut Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Raul Pino on the confirmation of a case of meningococcal meningitis in a student at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, CT. For more information about meningococcal disease please visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website.“We are working with CCSU officials and local health departments to investigate what thus far is a single case of meningitis in a CCSU student and to ensure that people who have come into close contact with the patient receive antibiotics as a precautionary measure. Our State Laboratory today confirmed that the student was infected with meningococcal meningitis, serogroup B.
This type of bacterial meningitis is not easily transmittable from person to person – it requires close contact over a period of time. Simply being on the same college campus or being in the same classroom as an infected individual does not increase the chances of becoming infected. Individuals who have come into close contact with this student either have been or will be contacted by CCSU or local health officials for appropriate follow up.
With vaccines now available to prevent meningococcal meningitis, this disease is now rare in the United States. The last case of this disease involving a college-aged student in Connecticut occurred in 2016. The meningococcal vaccine that many college students have received provides protection against four of the five types of the bacteria that cause meningococcal disease (serogroups A, C, W, and Y). A relatively new meningococcal vaccine that provides protection against the fifth type of the bacteria, serogroup B, the strain involved in this particular case, is now available and may have been received by some college students. This particular vaccine is recommended, but it is not yet required for college students.”