Pediatrician Susan Crawford at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital said she was terrified when she got a call in the middle of the night. Her cousin’s daughter had thrown up for the 10th time that night and was going to the emergency room.

“I was very scared that this was going to be severe, and she was going to have brain damage and not do well,” Crawford said.

Her cousin’s daughter was diagnosed with meningitis, and after being in the intensive care unit for a few days, her symptoms declined and she was discharged after two weeks.

According to Glenbrook North school nurse Margaret Bassrawi, the Illinois Department of Public Health is requiring students over the age of 16 to get the meningitis vaccine. She said she has sent out a mass email to the junior class of GBN to make sure they are all vaccinated by the start of the 2015-16 school year.

Crawford said meningitis is an infection of the spinal cord or lining of the brain. The symptoms include fever, body aches, severe headache, stiff neck, back pains and nausea. It is spread through close contact, like coughing, sneezing or sharing drinks.

“The problem is when people are going to college and living in a dorm with 300 people,” said Bassrawi. “Everyone is going to the same bathroom, sharing toothbrushes, and that’s how [meningitis] is transmitted.”

The increased risk of contracting meningitis during the freshman year of college is one of the reasons the “guidelines for the state” are requiring a second meningitis shot, Bassrawi said.

Junior Kiley Sullivan said she thinks it is safer for everyone to be vaccinated because there would not be “a worry of the virus causing a problem.”

Crawford said some parents do not want their kids to get shots because they do not see the risk of the disease for their children. However, she said the shot is about 80 percent effective and she rarely sees cases of bacterial meningitis anymore because of the vaccine.

“It’s important to remember, though, that [meningitis] still can happen even in a total immunized child,” said Crawford. “So doctors and parents should still be aware of the symptoms of severe headache, vomiting and fever.”