Nov 02 – Meningitis B Vaccination Introduced

Written by YGTV Team on 02 November 2015.

The GHA is now offering a new vaccine against Meningococcus B disease as part of the routine childhood vaccination programme. The vaccine is called “Men B vaccine” for short. This vaccine protects the baby against bacteria called Neisseria meningitides Group B (also known as Meningococcus B) which cause serious diseases like meningitis and septicaemia.

The GHA has introduced several vaccines in the last 20 years which have progressively reduced the occurrence of these serious diseases. The result of this is that meningitis is now quite a rare disease and 90% of cases are now caused by the Group B Meningococcus. This vaccine will aim to eliminate most of that burden as well.

Babies will be offered the MenB vaccine first at the age of 2 months, followed by a second dose at 4 months and a booster at 12 months. There will also be a limited catch-up programme from December to include those infants who are coming in for their 3 and 4 month vaccinations, to protect them when they are most at risk.

Meningococcus B is the leading infectious killer of babies and young children, causing infections that come on very quickly and can leave permanent damage.

Men B vaccine is very safe. It has been widely tested and has been administered in the UK for several months. It contains aluminium hydroxide to boost immunity, but it does not contain mercury or mercury products. Side effects are generally mild and do not last long. Fever within the first 24 hours is the most common side effect.

The Public Health department is producing and will be shortly making available an information leaflet on the vaccine for parents and others.

For more information, the Child Welfare & Immunisation clinic in the Primary Care Centre may be contacted.