Meningitis B vaccination programme sparks 62% drop in cases

24 JANUARY, 2020 BY STEVE FORD

Infant vaccination against group B meningococcal disease (MenB) has resulted in a
significant decline in cases in young children since the programme was introduced in
England, according to researchers. In September 2015, the UK became the first country to
offer a new vaccine (Bexsero) against MenB to babies at eight and 16 weeks of age, followed
by a booster around their first birthday. “The implementation of the MenB vaccine in 2015
is a great success, it is already saving lives”

(Shamez Ladhani) Latest findings show that by the third year of the new vaccination
programme, cases of MenB disease were 62% lower in children who were eligible for at
least two doses of the vaccine. Between 2015 and 2018, an estimated 277 out of an
expected 446 cases were prevented by the programme, according to the study funded by
Public Health England. As a result, only 169 cases were recorded over the period among pre-
school children eligible for the vaccine – representing a 62% fall on an expected 446 cases.
In addition, “uptake in England remained consistently high”, noted the authors of the study
published in the New England Journal of Medicine. 

Data from the first three months of 2018 showed that 92.5% of children had completed the
primary immunizations by their first birthday and 87.9% had received all three doses by two
years. The vaccine programme was “associated with continued positive effect against
meningococcal group B disease in children in England, and protection after three doses of
the vaccine was sustained for at least two years”, said the researchers. In a statement, PHE
noted that infants in the first year of life had the highest incidence of MenB disease so
vaccinating at these times helped protect them when they were most at risk. “Everyone
who knows about this deadly disease… will welcome the news”

Linda Glennie It highlighted that MenB was one of the leading infectious killers in young
children, with around one in 20 of those who contracted the disease subsequently dying
from meningitis or septicaemia. The disease could also be life-changing for survivors,
warned PHE, with long-term complications including brain injury, epilepsy, hearing loss, and
amputation of limbs. Dr Shamez Ladhani, consultant epidemiologist at PHE, said: “The
implementation of the MenB vaccine in 2015 is a great success, it is already saving lives and
means fewer parents and young children will experience this devastating illness.” Linda
Glennie, director of research at the Meningitis Research Foundation, which campaigned for
the introduction of the immunisation programme, said: “Everyone who knows about this
deadly disease… will welcome the news that the MenB vaccination has reduced cases and
saved lives.”