DENTON - Like most college students, Jamie Schanbaum loves riding a bike, but she steers with hands missing fingers and pushes with legs fitted with prosthetics.
Schanbaum is the poster child for what bacterial meningitis can do to the unvaccinated. She contracted the disease as a sophomore at the University of Austin in 2008.
"I would be waking up and looking at my limbs and they would get darker and darker and purple and more purple, and then it became black," she said. "All my fingers were black."
Her legs were amputated below the knee. She also lost her fingers as meningitis turned to a flesh-eating bacteria.
The Jamie Schanbaum Act, signed by Gov. Rick Perry, is named after her. The law went into effect January 1, but will be put to the true test with the mass of incoming freshman in the 2010 fall semester.
The law requires all new and transfer students living in university housing, including fraternity and sorority houses, to be vaccinated against rare but aggressive forms of bacterial meningitis.
Meningococcal disease is a bacterial infection that spreads like the flu, through coughing or sneezing, by sharing drinks or eating utensils or through other person-to-person contact.
The disease is easily spread in close living conditions, like dormitories. It can kill in less than one day.
As many as 15 college students nationwide die each year from bacterial meningitis. In Texas, more than 50 cases were diagnosed in 2009.
This fall, students must get the meningitis shot 10 days before being allowed to move in.
"It takes 10 days for the vaccine to have an effect on the body," explained Dr. John Shelton, assistant clinical director at the University of North Texas. "So, you're not really protected against meningitis until at least 10 days has passed."
At the University of North Texas, more than new 3,800 students need the vaccine. As of Thursday, some 500 students still haven't shown proof of vaccination.
"In order for the university to stay compliant with state law, we are not allowed to let that student move into the residence hall," said Sharon Miller, UNT residence coordinator.
Miller said UNT has given students adequate notice of the vaccination requirement. Residence advisers are making daily phone calls to students who haven't complied.
At UT Arlington, about 4,300 new students are moving on campus. About 300, as of now, won't be given their keys.
Students who show up without the required vaccine will be referred to an area hotel at the student's expense. Those with relatives in the North Texas area will be encouraged to commute, until 10 days after they receive the vaccine. There are no exceptions.
Vaccine compliance has been particularly tricky for foreign students, admit university officials. Certain vaccines aren't available in some countries, or the strains of disease covered in a vaccine dose might be different.
"Some of the students for whom the immunization is not available in their country, for example Japan is one where it's very difficult to get, are requesting and completing a conscientious objector form from the state of Texas," Miller said. "So, that's something; that's an option for them."
UNT has 14 incoming Japanese students who will be unvaccinated when they arrive. Both UNT and UTA will open their health clinics for vaccinations the weekend students move into dorms.
Whether from a foreign country or not, Schanbaum hopes few people claim a vaccine exemption. Instead, she hopes the law created in her name puts the brakes on a rare but devastating disease.
E-mail: jstjames@wfaa.com
