Ryan Milley, an 18-year-old from Texas, was preparing to enter his freshman year of college, had just reached pro-golf status and had fallen in love. On Father’s Day in 1998, he was hospitalized from meningococcal meningitis and died in less than 14 hours.
On September 14, Ryan Milley’s mother, Frankie Milley, was on campus at the University of Utah with the organization Meningitis Angels to spread awareness of the vaccine-preventable disease that took her son’s life.
College campuses are especially vulnerable to meningitis outbreaks due to large numbers of students living in close proximity to each other. The two most recent major meningitis outbreaks happened at San Diego State University and the University of Maryland in 2014.
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), there are three main types of meningococcal disease. Vaccines are available for each category.
The student health center at the U carries only one vaccine that addresses meningitis – Menactra. The $119 vaccine only prevents one of the three types of meningococcal disease, so students looking for full protection from meningitis will have to consult an outside physician.
The work of Meningitis Angels goes beyond student outreach. Currently, the state of Utah’s immunization requirements only mandates meningococcal vaccinations for students entering middle school. Meningitis Angels encourages that states adopt compulsory meningococcal vaccination boosters before high school exit. Milley, who also serves as the director of Meningitis Angels, said that legislation may be proposed at the upcoming legislative session that raises immunization requirements.
Milley and Meningitis Angels travel across the country warning students about the risk of meningococcal meningitis and appealing to state governments to upgrade their immunization requirements.
“There was a vaccine when Ryan died, but I didn’t know about it,” said Milley. “I’ve spent the last 18 years of my life educating so that I might prevent the disease from killing others.”
@emilyinorgandy