State Health Officials Urge Parents To Vaccinate Their Children Against Meningitis
DENVER (CBS4)- Colorado State Health Department officials are urging parents to get their children vaccinated against a potentially deadly disease. Meningitis is blamed for several deaths in the Fort Collins area last year.
Health officials and families who lost loved ones talked to students and parents about the dangers of meningococcal diseases. They urged everyone to get vaccinated.
"It's important that people know this disease can hit anybody at anytime. It hits hard, it hits fast. It's deadly. And it can be prevented by a vaccine. A simple vaccine," said a meningitis victim's widow Joy Jubert.
The Centers for Disease Control recommends everyone received their vaccinations for meningococcal diseases by age 11 and then get a booster shot by age 18.
Only 54 percent of teenagers in Colorado have been immunized to prevent meningitis.
The meningococcal disease prevention campaign "Voices of Meningitis" is from the National Association of School Nurses.
