Meningitis fear leads Princeton University to warn against kissing
Ivy League institution considers distributing unapproved vaccine to halt outbreak of disease
Fearing the spread of a meningitis outbreak that has caused seven people at Princeton University to be admitted to hospital this year, university officials have warned students to stop sharing drinks and to avoid kissing.
Bright orange posters urge students to "keep healthy and carry on" and red cups labelled "Mine. Not Yours" serve as reminders not to pass around drinks at parties.
Despite the campaign, a male student last week was found to have bacterial meningitis, nearly eight months after the outbreak's first case, in which a woman student returned from the spring break showing symptoms.
Maybe [casual sex] is something people think about during the day … but not on a Saturday night
Although the previous six patients have recovered from the disease, in which bacteria cause infections that can maim or kill within hours, the university's leaders are considering a stronger step to halt the outbreak: distributing a vaccine not approved for use in the United States.
Under New Jersey law, meningitis vaccinations are already required for almost all undergraduates at Princeton and other four-year colleges in the state. But the strain of the illness at Princeton - serogroup B - is not covered by the vaccine that is widely available in the US.
Another vaccine, Bexsero, does, but has been approved only by authorities in Europe and Australia. In response to the Princeton outbreak, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention have received special permission from the Food and Drug Administration to import Bexsero.
The university's trustees could decide this week whether to distribute Bexsero, a university spokesman said. Barbara Reynolds, a CDC spokeswoman, said vaccination would be voluntary.