Students entering seventh and 12th grades must be vaccinated against meningitis before returning to school.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The state Health Department is reminding parents that all students entering seventh and 12th grades must be vaccinated against meningitis before returning to school next week.
The shots are required by New York State law. The law, which was signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo last fall, applies to all students in the state, including those in private and parochial schools.
The one exception is for teens entering senior year who got their first meningitis shot on or after their 16th birthday.
The newly-required shot covers meningococcal diseases types A, C, W and Y.
Those under 18 who may not be insured or are under-insured can still receive the vaccination for free at certain providers who participate in the state's Vaccines For Children program.
More than 20 states already require the vaccine as part of standard immunizations that also offer protection against mumps, measles, polio and other deadly diseases.
Many colleges require incoming freshmen to be vaccinated over the summer, before they can be admitted to class and move into dorms.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says about 1,000 people get meningitis annually and up to 15 percent die. Survivors can suffer hearing loss and limb amputation.
Meningitis is a disease caused by the inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord that are known as the meninges. The inflammation is usually caused by an infection of the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord.
The infection is often mistaken for the flu in its early stages, because it mimics flu symptoms of body-aches, fever and headache. But the CDC says the symptoms escalate quickly. Headache becomes severe, and fever skyrockets, quickly turning to seizures, skin rashes, and death.
People with weakened immune systems, and those who live in college dorms, boarding schools and other communal living facilities are at higher risk for meningitis, which can spread as easily as the flu.