Good hygiene, such as hand-washing before meals and after using the bathroom, and not sharing food, beverages, utensils or lip balm can help stop the spread of bacterial and viral meningitis. But getting your child vaccinated is the most important thing you can do to protect her from bacterial forms of the disease.

Vaccines have been developed that have reduced the incidence of all three forms of bacterial meningitis in children and young adults by more than 95 percent since the late 1980s, when the immunizations first began being used. “Thirty years ago, when I took calls from parents of children with fevers, I was always so worried about the threat of meningitis,” says Dr. Edwards. “Certainly, meningitis isn’t gone, but just knowing a child has been vaccinated makes me feel so much more comfortable now, and it should do the same for you.”

If you miss a vaccination, your child can catch up, so don’t let that stop you from getting your child fully immunized. And don’t worry. Your child can’t get the disease from the vaccination. “The vaccine doesn’t contain the whole bacteria, so there’s no way it would ever cause meningitis,” Dr. Edwards says.