Bacterial meningitis can kill or severely disable a healthy person 24-48 hours after the onset of symptoms, and is especially prevalent in college freshmen. It’s preventable, but the vaccine has just been removed from the schedule.

In 1969 (1 year prior to vaccine) cases were 81/100,000 people

In 2023 (latest rates) there were 438 cases in the U.S.

nytimes.com/2026/01/05/…