Quinnipiac University Immunization Requirements

For all students that attend Quinnipiac University, they are required to receive the following immunizations. They do allow medical exemptions. 

• Meningitis conjugate (A, C, Y, W) immunization is required of anyone living in university-owned housing and must be administered within five years of enrollment. Meningitis B vaccine is strongly recommended.
• Two MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) or positive titer, as indicated by lab report
• TB screening, per guidelines listed on the form
• Two Varicella (or proof of having the disease) or positive titer, as indicated by lab report
• Vaccination against Hepatitis B is strongly recommended and may be required by certain clinical programs.

https://catalog.qu.edu/handbooks/undergraduate/student-affairs/student-health-services/ 

So what is concerning here? To start off, a lot of the vaccines and vaccine preventable diseases that I discussed before, are not present on this list. The biggest thing that sticks out to me specifically on this list is that the Meningitis B vaccine is only "strongly recommended". Students in the past who have took this course worked really hard to try and get the Meningitis B vaccine required for students, but only got Quinnipiac University to strongly recommend the vaccine. College students are at higher risk for contracting meningococcal disease due to their living conditions. Dorms are small, bathrooms are shared, and they are exposed to a lot more people and germs everyday. Colleges across the United States have reported outbreaks on their campuses of Meningitis B. Meningitis B is a scary disease that happens quickly. It is often described as first symptoms being similar to flu-like symptoms and within the next 24 hours individuals typically end up in the hospital and have to be induced into a coma. You could wake up totally fine one morning and then be in the hospital that night. These patients lives are typically never the same as amputations are necessary to stop the infection from spreading throughout the body. I find it concerning that Quinnipiac does not require this vaccine and after finding this out I asked around to see if the people around me were vaccinated against it. I talked to some close friends and explained how dangerous this disease is and they themselves checked to see if they were vaccinated against it. Turns out, one of my friends found out she wasn't and ended up making an appointment that day to get vaccinated as I explained to her how scary this disease is and how preventable it can be. The National Meningitis Association heavily advocates for the vaccine and shares stories of Meningitis victims. Here is Kayla Brison's story: