UW-Eau Claire students are flocking to Health Services for the vaccine that helps protect against meningitis after recent cases in the Chippewa Valley and the state.

On Tuesday Student Health Services gave 50 Menomune vaccinations for meningitis. It is available to all students for $70. Over the past week and a half, Health Services gave 275 vaccinations, program assistant Rose Dalhoe said.

While some schools are requiring students to get the meningitis vaccine, Associate Dean of Students Bob Shaw said the university will only encourage students to get it.

Measures were taken to decrease the risk of spreading the bacteria. Extended hours at Health Services were offered over the weekend and a hotline was set up for concerned parents and students. Preventive medicine was also given to anyone who lived with or had any contact with the student who died, Shaw said.

“Everything that could possibly be done is being done,” Shaw said.

After being exposed to meningitis twice, senior Melissa Eggen was advised by her home physician to get the vaccine. Eggen thought it would be a good idea because she works at the front desk of Katharine Thomas and also at Luther Midelfort with the cousin of Chippewa Valley Technical College student Amanda Gottfredsen, who was hospitalized with meningitis.

“A lot of it came down to my family being really concerned and it would ease their mind,” she said.

To decrease the possibility of contracting meningitis, along with hepatitis, new freshmen will have the opportunity to receive the vaccinations during summer orientation, Dalhoe said.

However, this is not something that is new this summer. Health Services has offered the vaccines for the past two years. The vaccinations are announced at the orientation session, and students have the option of getting them during the afternoon session, she said.

Wausau West High School senior Katie Nutting, who is attending UW-Eau Claire in fall, said it doesn’t seem like a big concern for her right now, but she will still consider the vaccine.

“It’s something I’ll talk about with my parents,” Nutting said. “But it’s not something I can say yes or no about right now. But it’s something I would seriously consider.”

Two UW-Eau Claire students died from meningitis this year, along with a Chippewa Falls student. In November, junior Amber Krenz, 22, died from meningitis. Sophomore Sean Coleman, 19, died April 21 after contracting meningitis. Chippewa Falls High School junior Paul Roth died April 26. Gottfredsen, 19, has been hospitalized the past two weeks with meningitis.