HB 185-POSTSECONDARY STUDENT IMMUNIZATION  CHAIR DYSON announced HB 185 to be up for consideration. ERICH DELAND, legislative aide to Representative Mike Chenault, introduced HB 185: We refer to the bill as the Ryan Colton Bill. He was a 19 year-old university student who woke up one morning with what he thought was the flu. By 3:00 AM the next day he was in the hospital and by 5:00 AM he was on life support and blind. By the time he was flown to Seattle, he was brain dead. Meningococcal viruses and bacterial diseases have a 15 percent mortality rate and when it is not terminal, it can result in loss of limbs, blindness, and problems with the major organs. The bill would remove a current exemption on post-secondary institutions and thus require them to provide information about viral and bacterial meningococcal diseases and offer immunization options for students. In addition, it would require them to have the students sign a document saying they have received the information. 1:40:20 PM CHAIR DYSON asked the reason schools are not able to do the reasonable things proposed in the bill. MR. DELAND replied they could but they don't. CHAIR DYSON asked Dr. Mandsager whether that was true. DR. RICHARD MANDSAGER, director, Department of Public Health and Social Services (DHSS), advised although Alaska colleges are not mandated to provide such information, they often voluntarily tell freshman they should get a meningococcal immunization. CHAIR DYSON asked whether the bill would require Alaska institutions to do that. DR. MANDSAGER responded that is correct. CHAIR DYSON asked the reason the college environment is so conducive to the spread of disease. DR. BETH FUNK, Chief of Epidemiology, DHSS, responded that while the answer to his question is not known exactly, it is suspected the reason lies in the particularly crowded conditions that exist in college dorms and classrooms. Similar conditions exist in military institutions. CHAIR DYSON asked Dr. Funk whether her organization approves of the bill. DR. FUNK responded that while her organization certainly supports vaccinations, it is neutral toward the bill because there is currently no vaccine available to treat the strain of meningococcal bacteria found in Alaska. Although the department does not have strong feelings against the legislation, it is not certain that it will have a big impact on public health. 1:45:16 PM SENATOR GREEN asked whether there were other diseases in the State of Alaska comparable to the meningococcal diseases with regards to their communicability and lethality and for which there is no vaccine or mandated instruction. DR. FUNK could not think of any. SENATOR ELTON moved CSHB 185(FIN) from committee with attached recommendations and a zero fiscal note. Hearing no objections, the motion carried.