Sarah Hastings, Acadia University meningitis victim, had strain B
Hastings had finished one semester at Acadia when she died
Nova Scotia's Department of Health and Wellness says laboratory test results confirm Acadia University student Sarah Hastings had the B strain of meningitis.
The student's roommate found her unresponsive in her dorm room on Jan. 31. Hastings, who is originally from Cambridge, Ont., died two days later in hospital.
Hastings was the second meningitis death in Nova Scotia in the last few weeks.
Rylee Sears, a Grade 10 student from Lower Sackville, N.S., died one week before Hastings. Sears had contracted a different strain of meningitis — the Y strain — which will be covered in Nova Scotia's new vaccination formula being rolled out this fall.
The meningitis B strain is the most common strain of meningitis.
"B in the last 10 years has been by far the most common," said Dr. Robert Strang, the chief public health officer for the province.
He said that in the last decade, almost two-thirds of meningitis cases have been of the B strain variety.
The meningitis B strain is not covered by the current vaccine issued to Nova Scotia students. It will also not be a part of the new meningitis vaccine formula coming later this year.
Strang said the vaccine that covers the B strain of meningitis won't be made available broadly because it is only meant for people who have been in close contact with somebody who has the strain, as well as individuals with specific medical conditions that put them at an increased risk of contracting the meningitis B strain.
"It is not recommended at this point in time for broad use, for a broad population campaign, like a school-based campaign," said Strang.
Before the two recent deaths, it had been a decade since Nova Scotia had a meningitis fatality. The province sees zero to four cases of the illness per year.