CORVALLIS, Ore. — Oregon State University vaccinated more than 1,800 students to boost immunity on campus to a strain of meningococcal disease that sickened three students in recent months.
The Oregonian/OregonLive reports the university hosted a two-day mass vaccination in Corvallis last week.
OSU spokesman Steve Clark says the school knows for certain that some 35 percent of the 7,000 students who are at higher risk have received the vaccine. Meningitis is a potentially lethal infection of the brain and spinal cord.
Meningococcal disease can be transmitted by contact with discharges of the nose and throat, including by sneezing or kissing. Two students contracted the meningitis strain in November, and a third was reported two weeks ago.
In 2015, an outbreak of meningococcal disease at the University of Oregon sickened seven people and killed one student.
