Debate renewed over requiring Ohio college students to be vaccinated

With an Ohio State University student becoming the 17th person in Ohio to contract bacterial meningitis this year, there has been a renewed call by some to require all college students who live on campus to be vaccinated against the potentially deadly infection  (Source: “Meningitis case at OSU raises issue of vaccines,” Columbus Dispatch, April 1, 2009).

Since 2005, the state has required colleges to ask student if they have been vaccinated against meningitis and hepatitis B, but the focus on that regulation is identifying students who have not been given the shot and educating them about it. In fact, some schools say the information is often incorrect or outdated and is only used when a student falls ill.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that children as young as 11 be vaccinated.

Sen. Gary Cates, a West Chester Republican, has introduced a bill that would require all students living at an Ohio public university to be vaccinated. Similar efforts at vaccination requirements for college students have failed in the past.