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(WJBK) - As students get ready to go back to school, it's a good time to talk about the necessary vaccinations needed to protect students from certain diseases. That includes meningitis.
Dr. Afaaq Siddiqui is a Henry Ford Family Medicine physician, and joined us on Live at Eleven to tell us about the new meningitis B vaccine that's not part of the current, recommended vaccine, but covers several strains.
Currently, the CDC recommends getting one dose of the regular meningitis vaccine, which covers 4 of the 5 strains, at age 11 or 12, and then getting a booster between 16-18 years of age. That vaccine does not cover the B strain.
More recently, we've seen outbreaks of the meningitis B infection. So, in 2015, the FDA approved the meningitis B vaccine.
Dr. Siddiqui says people who are at increased risk with weak immune systems, or those who live in college dorms or military recruits will benefit from the Meningitis B vaccine.
You can learn more about bacterial meningitis and viral meningitis by watching Dr. Siddiqui's full interview in the video player above.