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Princeton University vaccinates more than 4,300 against meningitis B
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On Monday, Princeton University began administering the first dose of the meningitis B vaccine. As of Wednesday, more than 4,000 students have been vaccinated, according to a statement from the university.
The vaccine clinics opened at noon Monday, and by the end of the first day, 1,959 individuals had been vaccinated with the first dose (4CMenB; Bexsero, Novartis). By closing time Wednesday, the number vaccinated rose to 4,361, according to university spokesperson Martin A. Mbugua.
Clinics will be open through Thursday.
Since March, eight cases of serogroup B meningococcal disease have been reported among university students and a student visitor. In response to this outbreak, the CDC recommended all undergraduate students, graduate students living in dormitories and members of the university community with certain medical conditions (functional and anatomic asplenia, including sickle cell disease, and late complement component deficiencies) be vaccinated with a two-dose series of meningococcal B vaccine currently approved for use outside the United States. The vaccine is licensed for use in Europe and Australia.
The second dose should be available in February, and the university will cover the cost of the vaccine, according to the statement.
Students leaving for or returning from study abroad will be contacted to discuss an alternate schedule to allow them to receive both doses of the vaccine.
Another outbreak of meningococcal B disease with four confirmed cases has been reported at the University of California, Santa Barbara, according to a statement from the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department.
Chemoprophylaxis has been given to more than 500 students who were identified as close contacts of the initial three ill students, and close contacts of the fourth case also have been identified and received antibiotics, according to the health department press release.
Perspective
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Carol J. Baker, MD
Outbreaks of invasive meningococcal disease are uncommon, but they always prompt media attention. Even less common than an outbreak are two, both on college campuses on opposite US coasts and caused by serogroup B. While the outbreak B strains from the eight students at Princeton are the same, they are different from the three cases at UC Santa Barbara. Almost unprecedented, however, is the action by the CDC and FDA to recommend that Princeton vaccinate its undergraduate and graduate students, as well as some faculty and staff with Bexsero (Novartis), a serogroup B vaccine licensed in Europe and Australia but not the United States. While no one knows the source of the outbreak that began at Princeton in March, and more recently at UC Santa Barbara, the Princeton outbreak has been sustained, despite chemoprophylaxis of close contacts of cases, and that underscores a strong rationale for vaccine use.
The use of a non-FDA licensed vaccine is of special interest because the diminishing disease burden due to Neisseria meningitidis in the past decade (fewer than 500 cases in 2012) was a major reason that Novartis’ Menveo (A, C, Y, W) vaccine did not get a routine recommendation for infants and children, but only for adolescents, where C and Y cause about 75% of cases. With this message from US policymakers, Novartis licensed Bexsero in Europe and Australia, where there is more serogroup B disease than the United States, and plans to wait for its pentavalent A,B,C,Y and W meningococcal vaccine before trying licensure here. Meanwhile, Princeton will be vaccinating their on-campus students and high-risk faculty and staff from Dec. 9 to 12, and California Health Department officials are keeping a close eye on the much larger UC Santa Barbara campus for additional cases.
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