VACCINATIONS & TESTING

VACCINATION STATUS FORM: PLEASE COMPLETE & RETURN
(in PDF format, Adobe Acrobat Reader required)

Vaccinations and/or testing is available for the following:

INFLUENZA

• Vaccination: Flu vaccine is usually available for a fee in the Student Health Center during the months of October through December.

• Symptoms: Abrupt onset of fever, chills, headache, sore muscles. Runny nose, sore throat, and cough are also common.  Incubation period is 1-3 days.

• Method of Transmission: Direct contact with infected person, indirect contact with items freshly soiled with nose and throat discharge of infected person. Airborne in crowded areas.

• Communicable Period: 24 hours prior to onset of symptoms through 3 days after onset, can be longer in younger children.

MENINGITIS (Menactra)

Menactra Vaccine - the 1st conjugate quadrivalent meningococcal vaccine.

Immunization with Menactra vaccine is now recommended for college freshman living in residence halls. A singular intramuscular injection of Menactra vaccine produces antibody responses to serogroups A, C, Y, and W-135 that are equivalent to the currently licensed meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine. The majority of adverse reactions were reported as mild and consisted mainly of pain, redness, and induration at the injection site, headache, fatigue, and malaise.

Students can receive the vaccine at all of our orientations in the Student Health Center and there will be a fee collected at the time of administration. They may also arrange for their vaccine to be given privately by their family physician or at a clinic.

• Bacterial

  • Vaccination: Vaccine is available for a fee for incoming freshman during orientation and throughout the year for all other students.

  • Symptoms: Sudden onset of fever, intense headache, photosensitivity, stiff neck, nausea, vomiting.  With meningococcal meningitis, rash. Behavioral changes, irritability, sluggishness. Incubation period is 1-10 days, usually less than 4 days.

  • Method of Transmission: Direct contact with nose or throat discharge of infected person or asymptomatic carrier.

  • Communicable Period: Not more that 24 hours after starting appropriate antibiotic therapy. Antibiotic prophylaxis is usually given to household contacts.

• Viral/Aseptic
  
  
  • Vaccination: There is no vaccine available for viral meningitis.
    
    
• Symptoms: Sudden onset of fever, intense headache, nausea, vomiting, stiff neck. Behavioral changes, irritability, sluggishness. Incubation period is 2-21 days, depending on causative agent. 
  
  
• Method of Transmission: Varies with causative agent. Some forms transmitted through contact with respiratory secretions. Most types are spread through the fecal-oral route via unwashed hands.
  
  
• Communicable Period: Up to 7-10 days before and up to 7-10 days following onset of symptoms. Strict hand washing after toileting required since virus may be excreted in stool for 1-2 months.

TUBERCULOSIS

• Vaccination: There is no vaccine available for TB, but testing can be done in Student Health Center.

• Symptoms: The symptoms of pulmonary TB include a productive cough, chest pain, and hemoptysis (bloody phlegm). Systemic symptoms include fever, chills, night sweats, easy fatigability, loss of appetite, and weight loss. Incubation period is 2-12 weeks, needed for infection to progress to disease. The risk of disease is greatest in the first 2 years following infection.

• Method of Transmission: TB is spread person to person through the air. When a person with TB coughs or sneezes, respiratory secretions are expelled into the air and can remain there for several hours. Transmission occurs when another person inhales air containing these droplets.

• Communicable Period: As long as live organisms are present in the respiratory secretions.

• Screening: Screening for TB is available Monday through Friday during the entire school year. You must return to the health center in 72 hours following your initial visit for a reading of your TB test.