As the nurse approached Jonathan Lovell with the needle in her hand, he couldn’t help but scrunch his face in response to the shot piercing his arm. After two seconds, he opened his eyes to see the nurse applying the self-adhesive bandage.

The senior then unrolled his sleeve and headed back to class.

Lovell was one of 60 seniors who received a meningitis vaccination on April 6, hosted by the school.

“I’m always a little nervous when getting a shot,” Lovell said, “but I’m okay.”

Five college campuses experienced outbreaks of serogroup B meningococcal disease from 2013 to 2016, according to the National Meningitis Association. The total number of students that were infected was 27. Out of those 27 students, two died.
“In order to go to any college in the state of Texas you have to have the shot,” school nurse Cheryl Sims said. “Otherwise, they won’t admit you.”

For more information see the following websites below.

http://www.cdc.gov/meningitis/

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/meningitis/symptoms-causes/dxc-20169522

http://www.nmaus.org/