If community bathrooms and slow elevators aren’t reason enough to dread living in the residence halls, SMU students have another: meningitis. Since the 90’s, the number of outbreaks reported on college campuses in the U.S. has risen considerably.

Some schools, including some private and all Connecticut public schools are taking it a step further, a Memorial Health Center nurse said. They are beginning to require that students have the additional meningitis vaccination before enrolling.

This year, one SMU student already developed viral meningitis and is now out of the hospital. According to Dr. Nancy Merrill, Medical Director of the Student Health Center, it is unlikely that anyone could get it from this student. Many people can be carriers of the germs that cause form without ever developing meningitis themselves.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, meningitis is an inflammation of the meninges, the tissues that cover the brain and spinal cord. Many different organisms can cause it: viruses, parasites, fungi and bacteria. The viral and bacterial forms are the most common. Antibiotics are ineffective on the viral form, and the body must fight it off naturally. The bacterial form, while treatable, can be deadly and usually requires a hospital stay.

Merrill says SMU has never had an outbreak of either form and there hasn’t been an SMU death due to meningitis in the 10 years she has worked here.

“There is about one case of viral meningitis every year at SMU, but there has only been one case of bacterial meningitis in the last 10 years,” she said.

Still, most college campuses have paid increased attention to meningitis in the last few years, and the CDC suggests that university health officials inform students of the disease meningitis and its vaccine. This is because first-year students who live in residence halls are more than six times more likely to catch the disease than their fellow students, according to the American College Health Association.

Nurse Cheryl Black of the SMU Health Center says this is because first-year students do not take care of themselves like they should when they get to college.

“It’s a package deal,” Black said. “Students who live in the dorms are usually first- and second-years. They don’t sleep as well, they might have given up exercise programs they had in high school and they have increased stress. These and other factors like drinking and smoking make the immune system take a hit.”

Black stresses, however, that it is still very difficult to catch the disease. She said that there must be direct oral contact. This means kissing, drinking from the same spot on a cup or possibly sharing a pillow.

“Viral meningitis is not as bad as bacterial in terms of mortality,” Black said, “but you can still feel like you got hit by a MAC truck.”

SMU senior Kristin Henderson agrees. She had viral meningitis two years ago and at first thought that it was just a cold. Two days later, she thought that she had the flu.

“I woke up on the third day and couldn’t move,” Henderson said. “I could lift my head, but my entire body was in pain. All of my joints were swollen and I literally could not sit up.”

Henderson’s boyfriend carried her to the health center, where doctors realized they were not dealing with a case of the flu and recommended she see her family physician. Henderson took ibuprofen for pain and decongestants for flu symptoms, but little else could be done but wait. She waited for three weeks. By then, Henderson had missed most of the end of the semester.

“It was like having the worst case of the flu ever,” Henderson said.

A memo the Memorial Health Center sent to all new students said to look for symptoms such as “high fever, rash or purple patches on skin, light sensitivity, confusion and sleepiness, lethargy, severe headache, vomiting, stiff neck, nausea, and seizures.”

Although everyone infected with the disease does not develop the same symptoms, if two or more develop, it is important to seek medical attention. The MFA recommends patients see the family physician first if possible because the disease can be hard to diagnose and he probably knows their health history best. If the family doctor is unavailable, seek attention at the closest emergency room.

The effects of meningitis can be devastating, but the bacterial form is preventable – to a certain degree. A vaccine is available at the health center for $75. It is about 80 percent effective and the side effects are limited and include soreness and swelling at the injection site. The health center will be holding a vaccine clinic Wednesday and Thursday, during which shots will be administered all day. Director of Health Services Patrick Hite recommends getting the vaccine for those at all concerned about catching the disease.

“Seventy-five dollars is minor compared to what it would take to recover from a case of meningitis,” Hite said.