At the University of California at Santa Barbara, where a fourth bacterial meningitis case was confirmed this week, a freshman lacrosse player had both feet amputated. Campus leaders have suspended fraternity parties and other social events and ramped up cleaning in residence halls and recreation facilities.
The threat of meningitis has long been a concern on college campuses, where the cramped living quarters, crowded classrooms and teeming party scene create an environment where it can spread more easily. The disease has largely vanished from colleges and universities in recent years, as dozens of states required students to be vaccinated against it before arriving on campus.
But officials who monitor the disease are troubled by the recent outbreaks in California and New Jersey, in part because of the number of cases but also because each involves the uncommon “serogroup B” type of bacterial meningitis, for which the country has no approved vaccine.