This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
MenC vaccine booster advocated
De Whalley P. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2011;[Epub ahead of print]
Wing JB. Clin Infect Dis. 2011;52:1317-1322.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Two studies published this month suggest the need for a meningitis C vaccine booster in early adolescence to maintain long-term protection.
Since the introduction of the meningitis C (MenC) vaccine in 1999, MenC disease has decreased rapidly; however, children vaccinated in the original campaign are up to 12 years of age now, and although covered during their infancy, they are unlikely to be protected against MenC in their teens and into adulthood. The two studies, one led by Robert Read, MD, at the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom, and another by Matthew D. Snape, MD, of Oxford Vaccine Group, investigated the complex immune mechanisms behind this loss of protection.
The study by Read looked at a group of 18- to 39-year-olds and measured their immunity levels after vaccination with the MenC conjugate vaccine. Results showed that, although all were fully protected 1 month after vaccination, up to one-third of them had unprotective or low antibody responses 1 year later. Further investigation showed that these participants had developed an immune memory response but that this was too slow to protect against MenC infection.
In the second study, researchers looked at English schoolchildren in the adolescent age group, “who had previously received a monovalent MenC glycoconjugate vaccine in 1999-2000, and were given either a plain polysaccharide vaccine (MenC-PS group) or a glycoconjugate vaccine (MenC-CRM group) at 13 to 15 years of age.” The researchers compared the groups after 1 year.
In that study, the researchers found that compared with controls, “both the MenC-PS and MenC-CRM groups had a significantly higher geometric mean serum bactericidal antibody titers 1 year after the booster dose.”
 |
Follow InfectiousDiseaseNews.com on Twitter. |