All Ohio undergraduate public university students will be required to receive meningococcal meningitis and hepatitis B vaccines if a bill recently proposed by Ohio Sen. Gary Cates (R-West Chester) is passed.

Currently, Ohio law only requires students living in on-campus housing at an institution of higher learning to disclose vaccination status to the respective university, said Kristopher Weiss, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Health.

If passed, the bill will require incoming first-years as well as students living on campus at any public Ohio university, including Miami University, to be vaccinated for bacterial meningitis and hepatitis B, unless they are waived for religious or medical reasons, said Gregory Calkins, medical director of Miami University Student Health Services.

Meningitis is the inflammation of the lining around the brain and spinal cord. Meningococcal disease is the leading cause of bacterial meningitis in the United States, according to the Ohio Department of Health College Immunizations Report. Bacterial meningitis cases can result in brain damage or death, unlike viral meningitis, which is rarely fatal.

The meningococcal vaccine can prevent the spread of the deadly bacterial meningitis disease on college campuses, Calkins said.

The vaccine contains a dead form of the infection and stimulates the immune system against the dangerous organism in question, according to Weiss.

"It prompts the immune system response that protects you if you are exposed to the disease," Weiss said.

According to the Ohio Department of Health, about 2,600 people nationally are infected with meningococcal disease every year. The state of Ohio saw 49 cases of bacterial meningitis in 2007.

There have been 10 cases of bacterial meningitis at Miami in the past 15 to 20 years, Calkins said. Of the 10 cases, two have been fatal.

The proposed bill is meant to raise awareness of the disease. Currently, Miami offers the vaccine for $150, according to Calkins.

At the onset of the disease, a patient may experience flu-like symptoms, according to the Ohio Department of Health. Also at the onset of the disease, bacterial meningitis can be fatal between 24 and 48 hours.

"It advances quickly," Calkins said.

Calkins said he has seen affected patients suffer from terrible pain, severe headaches and stiffness.

Bacterial meningitis is transmissible only through the spread of saliva, Weiss said. He added the disease can be contracted through sharing utensils, toothbrushes and drinking glasses.

An outbreak at Ohio University in February required the university to provide costly preventative medication to more than 300 students who had been in contact with the two students who contracted the disease, said Sarah Spence, legislative assistant to Sen. Cates.

Spence said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest all college students be vaccinated for meningitis because of how rapidly it spreads.

"A lot of people walk around with the bacteria that cause it, but not everyone gets sick," Weiss said. "It is important to take precautions particularly when you are living in close quarters."

Calkins said he would also like to see more awareness of the disease among students and residents of Oxford.

"The medical case for (the vaccine) is pretty clear cut," Calkins said.