Vaccine for meningitis proves hard to locate

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Vaccine for meningitis proves hard to locate

The vaccine is recommended for students living in dorms.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — As move-in day for freshmen approached,

Echols took stock of supplies at the Swarthmore College student

health center and thought she had plenty of the latest meningitis

vaccine for when students started piling into the dormitories.

But when the date got closer, she looked more carefully and saw that

it had expired. She frantically started calling doctor's offices and

hospitals to try to get some in time for when freshman start

arriving on Tuesday but with no luck.

" My problem was I thought I had it, but it expired this summer, "

Echols said. " It's like the flu shot — they create a demand that

they can't meet. "

Demand for the vaccine, which prevents a form of bacterial

meningitis and is recommended for students living in dorms, is

especially high this year. With its manufacturer, Sanofi Pasteur,

struggling to keep up with the need, some students and colleges have

found the vaccine, called Menactra, harder to find.

In 2005, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended

that more than 8 million U.S. children get vaccinated.

State laws

Several states, including Massachusetts, New Jersey, Virginia,

land and Louisiana, have enacted laws in recent years requiring

the vaccine for college students. In Pennsylvania, college students

living in dorms must either be vaccinated or sign a waiver saying

that they chose not to get it and understand the risks.

" Everybody knew, because of the way people get vaccines, that there

could be a gap in the supply and demand in this back-to-school time

frame, " said Donna Cary, a spokeswoman for Sanofi Pasteur, which has

a manufacturing plant in Swiftwater.

The company plans to manufacture 6 million doses of the vaccine this

year and 7 million next year. " The problem is ... we can't ship it

all in August, " Cary said.

Menactra, a long-term vaccine approved in January 2005, is

particularly targeted to college students because close contact is

one of the biggest risk factors. The disease, which leads to about

300 deaths a year, also can cause mental disabilities, hearing loss

and paralysis.

Alice Gray, director of the immunization program at the state Health

Department, said more people are finding out about the vaccine this

year, leading to spot shortages nationwide.

" It took off very quickly and a lot more quickly than Sanofi thought

it would, I believe, " Gray said. " Their manufacturing didn't quite

keep up. "

Nevertheless, many schools say that they are able to keep up with

the demand and state officials believe there will be enough

supplies.

Pennsylvania advises freshmen to try to get the vaccine from their

local doctor or hospital, Gray said. If that fails, however, the

department said people can call a state hot line at 1-877-PAHEALTH.

If necessary, the state believes it has enough doses of the vaccine

available for those who need it.

At Shippensburg University, the health center ran out of the vaccine

but eventually got more from a clinic, said Kenn Marshall, a

spokesman State System of Higher Education, which runs 14

universities in Pennsylvania.

" They were still able to immunize everyone that needed it, " Marshall

said.

Likewise, officials at Penn State said they had plenty of doses

available for students.

At Swarthmore, Echols is making do until her vaccine supply arrives

Sept. 25. She has either been offering an older version of the

vaccine or having students sign a waiver with the condition that she

will track them down when the new vaccine arrives.