Meningitis Impact: Admits’ Visits Cut to One Day

In response to the meningitis outbreak on campus, the University has canceled the overnight stays that are part of Princeton Preview, when newly admitted students visit campus. The program was scheduled for April 10 and 28 as one-day events. Though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has not recommended canceling any events or activities on campus, Princeton cut the overnight stays “out of an abundance of caution,” a University statement said.

In March, a student at Drexel University in Philadelphia died from the same strain of meningitis that sickened eight people on Princeton’s campus last year. The Drexel student had been in close contact with students from Princeton about a week before becoming ill, according to the CDC.

The two recommended doses of the vaccine Bexsero — which was made available at the recommendation of the federal government to stop the spread of the disease — have been administered to 89 percent of those eligible at Princeton, and 91 percent of all undergraduates. Bexsero, used in Europe and Australia, is not licensed in the United States.

Incoming freshmen will be eligible to receive the vaccine when they arrive on campus for the upcoming school year.

A University spokesman said no changes were anticipated for Reunions, to be held May 29–June 1. About 20,000 visitors attend the event each year.