Princeton to host ‘open forums’ about meningitis and the vaccination

Princeton University announced today that they will be holding open forums Thursday and Friday (Dec. 5 and 6) for faculty, staff and students who want to learn more about the meningococcal vaccine and bacterial menigitis in general.

This comes just days before (Dec. 9) the school will begin offering the unlicensed vaccine that protects against the outbreak strain, meningitis seerogroup B, to undergraduate students, and also graduate students living in undergraduate dormitories.

In addition to University reps, experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will be available at the forum. The schedule for the events are as follows:

Wednesday, Dec. 5

• Faculty, staff and student open forum: 2:30 p.m. in McCosh 10

Friday, Dec. 6

• Faculty, staff and student open forum: 2:30 p.m. in McCosh 10

Princeton reminds the university community that all eligible individuals must sign an informed consent form at the vaccine clinic. Experts from the CDC will go over the form and answer any questions at the clinic.

Students under 18 years old must have a parent or guardian sign a parental consent form and bring it to the clinic in order to be vaccinated. Scanned and printed versions will be accepted.

Princeton University will cover the cost of the vaccine.

What is Bexsero? How common is meningococcal disease serogroup B?

Blair Hall at Princeton University Public domain photo/Wikimedia commons