University of California Santa Barbara students are being encouraged to get an experimental meningitis vaccine after recent outbreaks.
The vaccine includes protection from a strain of meningitis that is not included in the common shot, NBC News reported.
After meningitis outbreak that hit eight students at Princeton University, 5,200 students received the "emergency vaccine."
Four students at UCSB contracted meningitis; one 18-year-old had to have their feet amputated as a result of the illness.
"The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has allowed the use of the serogroup B meningococcal vaccine for the UC Santa Barbara campus," school officials wrote in a letter to students, NBC reported.
"CDC recommends that all undergraduates get the vaccine, as well as faculty, staff and graduate students who have certain specific medical conditions or who live in dormitories. "The vaccine can be provided only to those recommended by the CDC, as described above. The specified groups were recommended by the CDC to receive the vaccine because young adults and people with certain medical conditions are at increased risk of getting meningococcal disease," they wrote.
The campus has not seen a case of meningitis since November, but officials are still recommending it to the campus community, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Meningitis causes inflammation in the membranes between the brain and spinal cord; it is also extremely contagious.
The infection kills one in 10 people who contract it and leaves 20 percent with disabilities, NBC reported.
The vaccine is recommended for all "faculty, staff and graduate students who have certain medical conditions," receive the vaccine, the LA Times
Symptoms of the infection include: "high fever, along with severe headache, stiff neck, nausea, vomiting, rapid breathing, sensitivity to light, confusion and, possibly, rash," NBC reported.
The vaccine has been approved in Canada, Europe, and Australia but has not yet been approved by the FDA.
