image by: HWN

HWN Suggests

Navigating the Changing Meningitis Vaccine Landscape: Dosing Guidance and New Developments

Meningitis vaccine dosing can be confusing since there are two different vaccines that target different serogroups or types of meningococcal bacteria. Also, a new vaccine was approved in 2023 which combines the two existing vaccines... The main culprits behind meningococcal disease are N. meningitidis serogroups or types A, B, C, W and Y. For the prevention of serogroups A, C, W, and Y, the MenACWY vaccine is recommended. The MenACWY vaccine is typically administered in two doses. The first dose is commonly given around the age of 11 or 12, with a booster shot Another key component of Meningitis prevention is the MenB vaccine. This 2-dose vaccine series targets group B, which is responsible…

read full article

Articles of Interest

I Want Parents to Know About the Additional Meningococcal Vaccine That Could Have Saved My Daughter

As a mother and a nurse, I was vigilant in having both of my children up-to-date on all recommended vaccinations, including meningococcal vaccination. I was under the common misconception, as many parents are, that the meningococcal vaccine that my daughter received would fully protect her from meningococcal disease, when in fact, it didn’t protect her against meningitis B.

Putting an End to Epidemic Meningitis in Africa

This fact sheet describes PATH’s efforts to eliminate meningococcal meningitis epidemics from Africa, once and for all. It covers work across meningitis projects, including the development and distribution of MenAfriVac®, the vaccine that has virtually eliminated meningitis A wherever it has been introduced.

Paralympic Champion Makes The Case For Meningitis Vaccine

The last thing on your mind while you're home from school for the holidays is avoiding a deadly disease. But imagine catching a disease as a teenager — a disease so terrible that it takes not just months to recover, but requires sacrificing both your legs. That's what happened to Amy Purdy at age 19, when she was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis.

Public health perspective of a pentavalent meningococcal vaccine combining antigens of MenACWY-CRM and 4CMenBWY and MenB separately. The requirement for separate vaccine administration on two schedules has led to suboptimal vaccination coverage.

Several types of meningococcal vaccine are approved, recommended and widely available. They have demonstrated effectiveness in preventing IMD in infants, adolescents and young adults. Initial meningococcal vaccines were monovalent and covered one serogroup (i.e. A or C), but quadrivalent meningococcal vaccines, such as MenACWY-CRM, have been used for more than a decade and are effective in helping reduce and control the incidence of IMD caused by the serogroups covered, and in helping to reduce meningococcal carriage. Currently, protection against the most frequent serogroups requires the administration of two vaccines (MenB and MenACWY), and this is reflected in the most comprehensive meningococcal vaccination programmes that cover MenACWY and MenB separately. The requirement for separate vaccine administration on two schedules has led to suboptimal vaccination coverage.

What is meningitis B – and why don’t older children get the vaccine?

Until recently, there was no vaccine against MenB. But in September 2015, the UK was the first country in the world to introduce a new MenB vaccine – Bexsero, produced by GlaxoSmithKline – into the routine NHS childhood immunisation programme. It involves three injections, given to babies at age two months, four months and 12 months of age, which are expected to protect children until around the age of four. However, there are lots of other bacteria and viruses which can cause meningitis, and some strains of MenB are not covered by the vaccine, so this vaccine would not be able to wipe out meningitis completely.

Why Is Meningitis Still Causing Deaths on U.S. College Campuses?

There's an effective vaccine, but 12 states still don't require it for incoming students.

Resources

Meningococcal Vaccine Recommendations

The United States uses 3 types of meningococcal vaccines. Each type helps protect against different serogroups of meningococcal disease.

Meningitis Angels

Not just college freshmen living in dorms get meningitis. Please educate yourself, speak to your health care provider, follow ACIP recommendations for adolescents and get immunized.

The 16 Vaccine

Some parents are aware of the first dose of the MenACWY vaccine at 11-12 years of age, but they don’t know the CDC recommends a second dose at age 16.

A new vaccine could bring an end to meningitis epidemics in Africa

MenFive®, the first multivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MMCV) to protect against the five predominant causes of meningococcal meningitis in the meningitis belt, received World Health Organization (WHO) prequalification in July 2023 and has the potential to eliminate meningococcal meningitis epidemics from Africa, once and for all. WHO prequalification is a critical achievement that confirms a vaccine meets strict international quality, safety, and efficacy standards and that allows it to be procured by United Nations agencies and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance—thus reaching the people and communities most in need.

Emily Stillman Foundation

When the Foundation was originally founded, it had a twofold Mission, which included the both organ/tissue donation as well as vaccine advocacy. In 2016 a third Mission was adopted to enable The Foundation to advocate globally for all health and wellness issues.

Kimberly Coffey Foundation

The Kimberly Coffey Foundation provides education to the public and health care professionals about meningococcal disease and advocates for meningococcal vaccination. Our goal is that no other family will endure the loss of a child or have a loved one experience the devastating effects of meningococcal disease. Zero lives lost or affected by this disease is the number we are striving for.

Vaccines.gov

There are meningococcal vaccines that help protect against five types (serogroups) of meningococcus bacteria, including the three types most common in the United States (serogroups B, C, and Y). Meningococcal vaccines cannot prevent all cases of the disease, but they do protect many people who might become sick if they didn't get vaccinated.