Rutgers University: Students should get meningitis vaccines

Rutgers University and a state health agency are urging all incoming and returning undergraduate students to take additional meningitis vaccinations after two students contracted the disease earlier this year.

Two students at the university's New Brunswick campus were diagnosed with meningitis B during the spring 2016 semester. Both were hospitalized and have recovered.

Meningitis is an infection of the lining of the brain and spinal cord and can cause high fever, headache, a stiff neck and a rash.

The school is now recommending students receive the serogroup type B meningococcal vaccine, Trumenba, before fall semester begins.

Students will have to submit a form verifying they have been properly vaccinated before returning to school in the fall.

Alternatively, students can sign a form acknowledging the risks of not getting vaccinated.