LOS ANGELES (AP) — Officials are considering whether to provide students at the University of California, Santa Barbara, with an unlicensed vaccine to prevent further spread of a bacterial meningitis outbreak on campus.
The Los Angeles Times reported (http://lat.ms/1bOYk2P ) Saturday that government health officials and the university are working together to determine if the vaccine Bexsero would be effective against the type of meningitis that sickened four students in November.
University officials say the school will take the necessary steps to provide access to the vaccine if it is recommended by experts.
The move comes after Princeton University received permission to distribute Bexsero, after eight students at the New Jersey school fell ill. The infection was similar, but not identical, to the strain of bacterium that sickened the California students.
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Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com