2015 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 179
BY SENATOR MURRAY
A RESOLUTION
To urge and request the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sub-group Advisory
Committee on Immunization Practices to recommend that incoming college students
receive the Meningitis B vaccine.
WHEREAS, student government is dedicated to making sure that students receive
the best education possible while preparing students for a successful future; and
WHEREAS, the Meningitis B vaccine has been newly approved by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention sub-group Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices
(ACIP); and
WHEREAS, incoming college freshman students are most likely to be infected with
Meningitis due to the close living quarters and social nature of college students; and
WHEREAS, college athletes are frequently together and commonly share items that
can serve as a mechanism to transmit disease, promoting a high possibility of becoming
infected with this disease; and
WHEREAS, there has been an outbreak of Meningitis at the University of Oregon,
infecting six individuals within the last four weeks, with one death; and
WHEREAS, in recent months and years there have been multiple college students
who have been infected with Meningitis, attending different universities (San Diego State
University, Drexel University, Princeton University, and Providence College) across several
states, some resulting in death and lifelong medical conditions not limited to loss of mental
function, brain and kidney damage, loss of hearing, and amputation of limbs; and
WHEREAS, there are five strains of Meningitis, serogroup B being the most deadly
and just recently becoming vaccine preventable; and
WHEREAS, Meningitis B resembles the flu but escalates much more quickly; and
WHEREAS, one in ten cases of those infected with Meningitis B has resulted in
death; and
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WHEREAS, health insurers commonly only cover ACIP recommended
immunizations; and
WHEREAS, public schools and universities cannot require that which is not
recommended; and
WHEREAS, ACIP met in February 2014 but did not make any changes relating to
Meningitis due to a shortened meeting and deferred the topic of Meningitis B
recommendations until June 2015; and
WHEREAS, government leaders, after the severe outbreak of Meningitis, sent out
a public safety announcement strongly urging parents to immunize their children; and
WHEREAS, physicians do not keep in stock that which is not in demand, making
access to the life-saving vaccine difficult for parents who desire to vaccinate their children;
and
WHEREAS, ACIP recommendation of this vaccine would result in immunity for a
majority of college students, allowing incoming students to develop immunity and protect
their great, young minds, and future from this known killer.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby urge and request the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sub-group
Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to recommend, at their June 2015 meeting,
that incoming college students receive the Meningitis B vaccine.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
Centers for Disease Control Practices sub-group Advisory Committee on Immunization
Practices.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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