Sources: Lannie Zweimiller, 785-532-7755, lanniez@k-state.edu
Carol Kennedy 785-532-6595, carolk@k-state.edu; and
Robert Tackett, 785-532-6544, jaydoc@k-state.edu
News release prepared by: Andy Badeker, 785-532-6415, abadeker@k-state.edu
Friday, Jan. 4, 2008
LAFENE ANNUAL REPORT EMPHASIZES STUDENT HEALTH PROMOTION AT K-STATE
MANHATTAN -- Though the number of students who seek treatment at Kansas State University's Lafene Health Center has generally kept pace with enrollment over the years, the center wants to emphasize its expanding programs that promote wellness, according to Lannie Zweimiller, Lafene's director.
Zweimiller, who recently released Lafene's 2006-07 annual report, said the programs include new vaccination drives and a three-credit online course directed at freshmen, Healthful and Safe College Life.
Immunizations against bacterial meningitis and human papillomavirus, which is associated with cervical cancer, have become priorities for Lafene and the student population it serves.
Meningococcal disease afflicts about 2,600 people in the United States each year, and the consequences are devastating: 10-15 percent of those infected die, even with treatment. Those who survive can have permanent neurological impairment; some patients lose limbs, said Robert Tackett, Lafene's medical director. The two main forms of meningococcal disease are meningitis and a bloodstream infection known as meningococcemia.
Because freshmen living in residence halls are among the groups at increased risk, the Kansas Board of Regents requires all incoming students with housing contracts to be vaccinated. Students must show proof they've had the vaccine or they must be vaccinated at Lafene. If they decline the vaccine, they must sign a waiver showing that they've received information about the disease and its consequences, Tackett said.
The genital human papillomavirus is the most common sexually transmitted virus in the U.S.; estimates are that 20 million people carry it and more than 6 million are infected each year. Most such infections don't cause any symptoms, but the virus can cause cervical cancer, which kills 3,700 Americans each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Lafene offers the three-vaccine series that confers nearly 100 percent protection against four types of human papillomavirus. Because the vaccine is not effective against all types of the virus, women are encouraged to continue with annual examinations.
More information about papillomavirus and other vaccines offered at Lafene is available by contact the health center's Immunization Clinic at 785-532-6544 or online at http://www.k-state.edu/lafene/allerimmun.htm
Because of the new freedoms and risks that students encounter in their first months of university life, Lafene and the K-State Division of Continuing Education have developed Healthful and Safe College Life, good for three general-education credit hours.
The course, completed entirely online, guides students toward the ability to make informed decisions about sexual health, alcohol and other drugs, nutrition, mental health and the prevention of injury and illness.
"It's designed for incoming freshmen, so that they are more prepared for health challenges they might encounter during their first year," said Carol Kennedy, director of health promotion and nutrition counseling at Lafene. "Students taking the course will know how to be safer, make healthier decisions and learn how to help a friend."
More information on the course is available through Lafene's office of health promotion at 785-532-6595 or http://www.k-state.edu/lafene/hp_info.htm