Post-secondary students urged to get free meningitis B vaccine before the fall

Ahead of the new school year, P.E.I's Chief Public Health Office is reminding post-secondary students to get a free meningitis B vaccine. 

The provincial program administered 1,900 doses of the vaccine in it's first year, which began in May 2023.

Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Heather Morrison said she is very pleased with those numbers. She's encouraging students to get the vaccine before heading back to school this fall. 

"I'm hoping that more post-secondary students either attending post-secondary here or off-Island will get the vaccine and that we won't see any devastating cases of meningitis B in any of our students," Morrison said.

Students can receive the dose at Holland College or UPEI if they're attending those schools, or at a public health nursing clinic. People can also reach out to those places for more information. 

In the first year of the program, only students living in residence were eligible to receive the vaccine. Now, anyone attending a college or university in P.E.I., or students leaving to study outside the province, can get the doses for free.

"We've never shied away from trying to expand programs that we think will help Islanders," Morrison said. "And that's what we've done in this circumstance."

Meningitis B is a strain of invasive meningococcal disease, or IMD. Morrison said IMD can be fatal for up to 10 per cent of people who contract it, and the meningitis B strain can be "devastating" for anyone.  

"It can make some people really sick and can cause severe outcomes, including death," she said.

Morrison said meningitis B is not very common in P.E.I., but added that the number of students contracting the disease in post-secondary schools is on the rise.

She said students are more likely to be closer together and spread the disease by sharing everyday items like utensils and drinking cups. 

"It tends to have higher risk for those who are living in congregate living settings and who are attending post-secondary institutions," Morrison said. "Up to 25 per cent of healthy adults will carry the bacterium in their throat or in their nasal passages."

The vaccine is also available for free to military recruits and for people who are considered to be high-risk.

Morrison also encourages parents to talk to their children about getting the vaccine.