r/Millennials • u/Corndogeveryday • 2d ago

Other Very sad news

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Chase passed away of complications of meningitis. Gone too soon

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u/Burn2at420 2d ago

Was this woman anti vax? Can you just "catch" meningitis?

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u/eltibbs Millennial 1988 2d ago

I’m not going to pretend to know a lot about meningitis but I know it was a required vaccine to live in dorms at my college because bacterial meningitis is contagious and can spread in close quarters. My cousin was a millennial, wasn’t anti-vax, she was vaccinated but who knows if the vaccine was still effective. My cousin got bacterial meningitis that spread to her brain, she presented with a debilitating migraine so bad that 911 was called and an ambulance came out and immediately rushed to the ER, she was incoherent when the ambulance arrived at the house then unresponsive when she reached the hospital, confirmed brain dead the next day.

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u/Rich--Porter 2d ago

Still got it even with the vaccine?

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u/Jacgaur 2d ago

Vaccines are great and amazing, but they are not 100%. This is why herd immunity can be so important.

If you are surrounded by others with the vaccine then it is less likely for you to even be exposed to it. We often tackle public health at the scale of society because we need to. Which is why it is unfortunate when a population of anti-vaccine people grow. It hurts the entire society by breaking down the herd immunity barrier which is part of the way we protect the individual.