Meningitis on College Campuses
Anyone can easily get meningitis from anywhere, and it is a serious illness that can affect both young people and adults. According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “meningitis is an inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord” (1). College campuses and dormitories are perfect environments for meningitis to spread. A lot of students are affected and diagnosed with meningitis each year. Most of the students are not aware of the early meningitis symptoms, or they just ignore them. Also, they often fail to get vaccinated. The stress of studying and exams weaken the immune system which will make the student more likely to develop meningitis. Meningitis is one of the most serious and spreadable diseases on college campuses and dormitories because of the number of students that are affected each year,
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Often students do not know that the symptoms of meningitis because it seems like nothing more than the flu. The flu is an extremely contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza (7). Because of this, they just ignore the signs, and they do not seek for the treatment (8). For example, one student will have a fever, headaches, and muscle pain and will do nothing about it because he thinks that it is just the flu. Also ignoring the vaccinations that the students should take is a result of less awareness (7)(9). Vaccination is a way to protect you from a particular disease that can harm you. They boost your body’s immunity. Your immunity or immune system is the defense system in the human body (10). Teenagers are the second most at risk after babies, so for that reason, students should not ignore the early symptoms and the vaccination and should be aware of meningitis symptoms (7). The stress could corporate with the ignoring of the symptoms and make it easier to be