Did you know:
- Through a national survey, Harris Poll interviewed over 2,000 mothers from across the country who have children 11 through 18 years. The survey uncovered that more than two in three mothers have little to no knowledge of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) recommendations for preventing meningococcal meningitis, which include an initial meningitis vaccination at age 11 or 12 years, followed by a second vaccination at age 16.1
- Results also state that more than a quarter of the mothers surveyed (28%) believe getting the initial vaccination is important, but getting the second vaccination is not essential.
As school nurses, we have an opportunity to help change these statistics!
Voices of MeningitisTM, a national public health initiative from the National Association of School Nurses in collaboration with Sanofi Pasteur, aims to raise awareness among parents about the danger and prevention of meningococcal meningitis, and motivate them to speak with their child’s healthcare provider about meningococcal meningitis prevention.
The program focuses on educating mothers and other caregivers about the CDC’s recommendation that children receive a second vaccination at age 16, following the initial vaccination at age 11 or 12 years.
As school nurses, we need to encourage parents to speak with their child’s healthcare provider to make sure their children are up-to-date with all their vaccinations and pave the way for a healthy school year.
Please find resources below to help educate your school community about how to help prevent this rare, but potentially deadly disease. In particular, we encourage you to send out the template letters to parents with children 16 through 18 years of age to encourage them to speak with their child’s healthcare provider to see if their child is up-to-date with all of his/her vaccinations.
Letters for Home
Informational: General facts to help build awareness about meningococcal meningitis and how to prevent it
Access the PDF version Access the Word version
Regional Outbreak: Information for parents about protecting their child against a local meningococcal meningitis outbreak
Access the PDF version Access the Word version
Nobody Knew
An animated infographic to raise awareness about meningococcal meningitis
Access the MP4
Voices of Meningitis Brochure (For Parents)
General information about meningococcal meningitis
Access the English version Access the Spanish version
Voices of Meningitis Fact Sheet (For Parents)
What every parent should know about meningococcal meningitis
Access the English version Access the Spanish version
Please visit www.voicesofmeningitis.org to learn more about meningococcal disease, hear stories from families who have been impacted by the disease and find additional educational materials and resources.
If there are other tools or resources that would be helpful in your school, send an email to nasn@nasn.org and share your ideas!
Voices of Meningitis is an educational program made possible through a collaboration with Sanofi Pasteur.
1Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2013, March 22). Prevention and Control of Meningococcal Disease – Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). 62(2), 1-13. Retrieved May 31 from http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/
Page last updated March 2016.