Though relatively rare, meningitis can be devastating. Caused by bacteria that infect the bloodstream, brain lining and spinal cord, meningitis kills one out of 10 victims – up to 300 Americans a year. One in five survivors may face permanent disabilities.

That’s why most infants get the Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) and pneumococcal conjugate vaccines, which protect against two types of this contagious disease. Now that two types of meningitis (Hib and pneumococcal) are preventable, meningococcal meningitis, which infects the brain and spinal cord, is the most common type of bacterial meningitis seen.

Most meningitis patients are less than a year old, but the disease rate peaks again in adolescence and early adulthood. “More deaths actually occur in teen-agers,” says Dr. Jane Siegel, an infectious diseases specialist on the medical staff at Children’s Medical Center Dallas. For the past several years, the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has recommended that families of new college freshmen be educated about the risks of the disease and be offered the meningococcal vaccine before their child goes to college.

But in 2004, the Food and Drug Administration approved a new vaccine, Menactra™, for protection against meningococcal disease. In contrast to the older vaccine, it’s recommended for adolescents and provides longer lasting protection. “The advantage of Menactra is that one shot protects you for at least eight years,” says Dr. Siegel. “It also makes you less able to transmit the bacteria to (others).”

The new vaccine protects against four of the five bacteria groups that cause meningococcal infection. “That means it protects you against about 70 percent of the meningococcal cases,” says Dr. Siegel.

Meningitis at first looks like the flu or a migraine and progresses quickly, according to the National Meningitis Association (NMA). Symptoms include:

• A headache, which may seem like the worst you’ve ever had
• A fever (perhaps very high) that doesn’t respond to a tepid bath, acetaminophen or ibuprofen
• Vomiting
• Numbness, cold or loss of feeling in extremities
• Stiff neck
• Avoiding light
• Disorientation or confusion
• Seizures
• A rash that may start as pink spots and rapidly progress to purple spots