Concern over the possible spread of meningitis within Loyola has diminished in the two weeks since Trent Fucich’s death, due in part to students’ access to vaccinations and antibacterial treatments.

Student Health Services has given 150 meningitis vaccinations as of Monday. The vaccinations cost $95 and will continue to be available as long as there is a demand.

The vaccine offered by Student Health Services is called Menactra and is effective for a longer period than the vaccine previously offered. One shot is expected to inoculate a patient for seven to ten years. It eliminates the bacterium that causes the disease, according to the Student Health Service Web site.

Student Health Service will also continue to give out doses of the Cipro antibiotic if any students or staff requests them. The Cipro antibiotics will also remain free to students.

Demand for the antibiotics has drastically decreased from when it became available two weeks ago.

“The clinic has only given out a few since Monday,” said Vicki McNeil, associate vice president of student affairs. Most people who felt they were at risk have probably already taken action and gotten the Cipro or the vaccination, she said.

To meet with the initial demand, Student Health Service was open extra hours following the death of Fucich on Tuesday, Feb. 21. The clinic was open the following Saturday morning, as well as the Wednesday after Mardi Gras. Extra physicians were added to the clinic staff. McNeil said she is now monitoring the clinic to see if any extra hours need to be added.

The university still has not been notified as to whether the meningitis contracted by Fucich was bacterial or viral. The Rev. Kevin Wildes, S.J., university president, continues to be in contact with the medical examiner and will receive that information as soon as it becomes available, said McNeil.

There have been no other cases of meningitis reported, though two students complaining of meningitis-type symptoms were sent to the emergency room to be screened in the week following the initial meningitis occurrence. Both students tested negative by way of a spinal tap, said McNeil.

It is Student Health Service’s policy to send any student with any indication of meningitis to either the Touro or Ochsner emergency room.

Loyola’s administration is considering requiring meningitis vaccination for all incoming students. The earliest this could take effect would be for the upcoming summer session, McNeil said.

“Because Loyola takes students’ health very seriously, we will consider making a change,” said McNeil.

McNeil has already changed information on the Loyola Web site to more strongly recommend that incoming students, especially those planning to live on campus, be vaccinated for meningitis.

As of September 2005, 34 states had enacted meningitis vaccination or education laws or policies, according to the National Meningitis Association Web site. The Louisiana state legislature introduced a bill requiring students residing in on-campus housing at

post-secondary education institutions to be vaccinated for meningococcal disease in March 2004, but the bill has since stalled.

Lindsey Netherly can be reached at [email protected].