Princeton University was not the only university that experienced a meningitis outbreak. The University of California Santa Barbara is seeking the vaccine used by Princeton to stop its own meningitis outbreak.
On Dec.3, ABC News reported four students at the Californian University had come down with meningitis, a strain similar to the one that affected eight students at Princeton.
We previously reported that Princeton was able to get a vaccine that had yet been approved by the FDA, because the meningitis strain, meningitis B, was not one commonly found in America, but in Europe and others countries.
While none of the eight infected at Princeton became brain dead or had to undergo any surgeries, common with this type of strain, a student at the University of California Santa Barbara had to get both of his legs amputated.
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) said the disease, the strain that hit Princeton and Santa Barbara, are not connected. However, the university has asked the CDC to request permission from the FDA form them to receive the vaccine given to Princeton.
Reuters reported that the CDC wanted to wait to see if the disease spread to any other students, much to the anger of parents.
The CDC wants to test to make sure that the vaccine works against the strain that has appeared in Santa Barbara in the form it appeared. The University is looking into possibly requiring all its campuses to get vaccinated against meningitis.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
