Wardenburg is beginning to see a high number of student requests for meningitis immunizations.
Since Wardenburg and Colorado State Health Officials issued a health advisory to the CU community concerning the recent cases of meningococcal meningitis in Fort Collins, students have begun taking advantage of the vaccinations offered on campus.
CU Spokesperson Malinda Miller-Huey said after screening students who requested vaccinations, Wardenburg administered 12 vaccinations on Tuesday.
“They had about 20 students who came in and then they screened those 20 students for the risk and that’s when the 12 students received the vaccination,” Miller-Huey said.
Miller-Huey also said that the students who were vaccinated sought help from Wardenburg for a number of reasons.
“It was a combination of people who have family members at CSU, some students who have close friends at CSU,” she said. “And then there were some students from the residence halls who haven’t gotten it yet who received it.”
CU does not mandate that its students get vaccinated for meningitis before entering their freshman year, but if moving into a residence hall, the student or their parent/guardian is required to sign a waiver stating that they are aware of the health risks and to specify if have elected not to get vaccinated, according to Wardenburg’s website.
The only diseases that the university mandates incoming freshmen living in the dorms to receive vaccinations for are measles, rubella and mumps, according to the website.
Heather Collis, Wardenburg’s marketing coordinator, said that Wardenburg has already seen a large influx of students looking to get vaccinated and the health center is already looking to order more vaccine.
“As of right now we have a little over 100 vaccines,” Collis said. “We’ve already started ordering more.”
Collis also said that many CU students are vaccinated prior to their freshman year.
“Nobody here on campus has meningitis,” she said. “The good thing is a lot of students get it right before they come into school. We recommend it during summer orientation and everything.”
Some students said they were vaccinated prior to their freshman year at the recommendation of the university and their parents.
“It was one of the recommended shots before college,” said Kathyrn Goggin, a 19-year-old sophomore broadcast major. “I remember having this pamphlet on it and my mom was talking about it.”
Becky Powell, a 19-year-old sophomore anthropology major, said she also was vaccinated before entering her freshman year and is not worried about contracting the disease while going out.
“Not really,” Powell said. “If I’m sick or if I’m not in the mood, I’m not going to go out. But I feel like when I go out I’m fairly safe anyways.”
Miller-Huey said that the university works to make sure that parents sign the health waiver and are advised of the risks because some do not believe in getting vaccinated.
“In the state of Colorado, even in schools, there are people who don’t believe in being immunized,” she said. “It’s at least that you have to be advised.”
For more information on getting immunized at Wardenburg, visit their vaccination web page.
Contact CU Independent Breaking News Editor Sarah Simmons at Sarah.e.simmons@colorado.edu.
