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In dorms (and classrooms) around the world, the colds have started making their rounds. In my dorm, it has spread like wildfire. It started with a few people sniffling and sneezing, then I noticed people in the lobby of my dorm were coughing more than usual. It wasn't a week before about 1/2 of the dorm had one of the 2 thing circling around: Strep and the common cold. My 2 friends lucked out with the common cold, and my roommate brought back strep (how thoughtful of her). It seems I have some sort of odd combo of the two, as I woke up with a painful throat this morning. A quick examination revealed it was indeed red and swollen, and now I am also getting the lovely alternating fever and chills.

When you have so many 18-21 year olds (the age when hygiene is obviously not the number one priority) in one place, people are bound to get sick. This is the main reason why I can't understand anyone's decision to not receive a meningococcal meningitis vaccination. The risks of the shot are few, and the risk of getting meningitis should heavily outweigh any astronomically rare risk of the vaccination. I'm not sure about other states, but the Health Department offers MANY shots for little or no cost for teens under the age of 19, including Hepatitis A (usually caused by contaminated food) and B, meningococcal meningitis, HPV (Human papillomavirus), tetanus, and more.

Don't take the chance - get vaccinated. It's an extra benefit that your local Health Department probably offers these for free or the at-cost price, plus they keep a record of your vaccinations that can be retrieved if needed by you or your doctors.

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