Year: 2013

A Critical Look at Bexsero

A Critical Look at Bexsero

Although a host of different bacteria, viruses, and fungi can all potentially cause the onset of meningitis, the eight Princeton cases have all been determined to be the work of N. meningitides serotype B1. In a void of FDA approved vaccines, the University is turning […]

The Benefits of Bexsero at Princeton

The Benefits of Bexsero at Princeton

In the past few weeks, Princeton University has found itself a hot topic in the media for what has now been described as an outbreak of meningitis B1. Although Princeton currently requires all students to be vaccinated against meningitis, the current vaccine does not protect […]

Q&A with Head of CDC’s Meningitis and Vaccine Preventable Disease Branch Dr. Thomas Clark

Q&A with Head of CDC’s Meningitis and Vaccine Preventable Disease Branch Dr. Thomas Clark

Meningitis is an infection in the membrane layers surrounding the brain and the spinal cord called the meninges. It is airborne and is spread through close contact such as coughing or sneezing. The outbreak is related to type B (serogroup B) meningococcal bacteria which is […]

Why an Outbreak at Princeton?

Why an Outbreak at Princeton?

For the past nine months, Princeton University has been trying to halt an outbreak of bacterial meningitis in its students without success. Since bacterial meningitis is a serious infection of the brain and spinal cord that can cause brain damage and death, having it on […]

Alzheimer’s Research–The Road Ahead: A Q&A with the NIA Director of Neuroscience

Alzheimer’s Research–The Road Ahead: A Q&A with the NIA Director of Neuroscience

Statistics illustrate the extent to which Alzheimer’s disease is prevalent in the United States. It is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States and nearly 5.2 million Americans of all ages have this disease in 2013. In fact, it is estimated that […]

Meningitis Outbreak on the Princeton Campus

Meningitis Outbreak on the Princeton Campus

On Friday, November 22, the eighth case of meningitis was reported at Princeton University. This case, like the seven previous ones confirmed at Princeton over the past nine months, was shown to be caused by a rare meningococcal bacterium known as serotype B. While this may be regarded as a small number in a campus of 5,000 undergraduate and 2,500 graduate students, what worries public health officials is that meningitis is a rare disease. Moreover, group B is particularly rare in the United States.

Meningitis is generally characterized as the inflammation of a membrane that surrounds the brain and the spinal cord…