News & Activities

CoMO calls for parents to be aware that meningitis vaccines do not fully protect against all types of the disease

Monday 14 May 2012: New research presented at the European Society of Paediatric Infectious Diseases (ESPID) Annual Meeting in Thessaloniki, Greece shows that most parents (61%) surveyed as part of an international study of six countries are unaware that current vaccinations do not protect their children from all forms of meningitis.¹ The data from the survey of parents with infants under the age of two also show that only 16% of parents surveyed know that children under 12 months are at greatest risk of contracting the killer disease.¹

Meningitis is a potentially deadly inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, which can be the result of a virus, bacteria, or other microorganisms, and can be associated with a potentially life-threatening blood infection (sepsis).^2,3 Each year hundreds of thousands of people around the world die from meningitis, or suffer life-long disabilities. Bacterial meningitis, which is the most severe and common form, causes around 170,000 deaths globally every year.^3,4 While the disease can affect people of all ages, infants, children and adolescents are at an increased risk of infection.⁵

Further results from the study showed that:¹

• Fewer than 4 in 10 parents (900/2460) knew their child had already received a meningococcal vaccine.
• Parents in Australia, Canada, Spain and the UK were more likely to know if their child had been vaccinated against meningococcal disease, compared to parents in France, Germany and Sweden.
• Almost 50% of Swedish parents said they were unsure of their child’s meningococcal vaccine status.
• Compared with parents in other countries, parents in France and the UK were more likely to realise there were other types of meningitis not covered by current vaccines.
• After exposure to meningococcal B disease (MenB) information more parents (68% vs. 54% prior to seeing this information) predicted they would be highly likely to accept vaccination for their child (0-6 months of age) against MenB, if approved and recommended by their child’s healthcare provider.
• Parents in Australia, Spain, and the UK were the most likely to allow their child to receive MenB vaccination; French parents were relatively less likely.

Although great strides have been made over the last decade with the introduction of vaccines for some types of meningitis, there is currently no broadly-effective vaccine to protect against MenB.⁶ Candidate vaccines for this type of meningitis are currently in development.

One of the Confederation of Meningitis Organisation’s (CoMO’s) founding members based in the UK, The Meningitis Trust, was involved in the study. Sue Davie, Chief Executive and co-author of the international survey, commented on the lack of awareness about vaccine protection against meningitis.

“This misunderstanding about meningitis vaccine protection suggests that the majority of parents do not consider meningitis when their child is ill, thinking they are protected. Sadly, this can costs lives or lead to a child facing a future changed forever with devastating after-effects,” Sue Davie said.

“We have to address this complacency as a matter of urgency and ensure meningitis remains at the forefront of parents’ minds while there are not vaccines available for all types of this disease.”

Commenting on the global significance of the data, Bruce Langoulant, President and Member of the Governing Council of CoMO and father of a meningitis survivor with significant disabilities said: “We are proud that one of our founding members, The Meningitis Trust, has been involved in such significant global research. It’s clear from the new data presented that there is potentially a worldwide lack of awareness that meningitis vaccines do not fully protect against all types of the disease – something that the global community needs to work on. In the absence of vaccines for all types of meningitis, it is critically important that parents know the signs and symptoms of meningitis and understand the urgency to treat the disease.”

To drive better awareness of the signs and symptoms of meningitis, CoMO recently launched a video entitled ‘If I’d known then what I know now’ that features a range of people affected by meningitis and shares their knowledge in an effort to educate others and reduce the incidence of those impacted by the disease. The video can be accessed at: http://www.youtube.com/user/COMOmeningitis/featured.

 -ENDS-

Notes to Editors

About the Survey

• 2,460 parents (with a child under two) and 725 healthcare professionals from across Europe, Canada and Australia were surveyed.
• The countries surveyed were Australia, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
• The survey was conducted between 5 September and 1 November 2011.
• The survey was conducted by IPSOS Healthcare on behalf of Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, who sponsored the research.

About Meningitis

Meningitis is an inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, and can be the result of infection by bacteria, viruses and fungi.² Bacterial meningitis is the most serious type of meningitis, and it is often associated with a potentially life-threatening blood infection (sepsis).^2,3 The most common bacteria causing meningitis and septicaemia are Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcal) and Neisseria meningitidis (meningococcal).³ 

Meningitis can develop rapidly and its symptoms often resemble the flu (e.g., fever, drowsiness and headache), which makes it difficult for doctors to diagnose and patients/family members to recognise.⁵ Even with early and appropriate treatment, the rates of death and serious long-term effects of the disease can be high.² Survivors often suffer serious long-term consequences, such as deafness, brain damage, and limb loss.^2,4 While the disease can affect people of all ages, infants, children and adolescents are at an increased risk of infection.⁵ Immunisation against bacterial meningitis with those vaccines that are available is essential;² no one should suffer from this disease.

About the Confederation of Meningitis Organisations (CoMO)

CoMO was founded in September 2004, at the close of a World Conference of Meningitis Organisations. Encouraged by the information shared at the meeting, 20 delegates formed CoMO in order to help support the fight against meningitis by emphasising the global burden of the disease and supporting the establishment of new meningitis and children's health organisations.

CoMO now has 34 members in 22 countries around the globe. The global organisation is focussed on stopping meningitis worldwide and supporting its member organisations in raising awareness about meningitis, growing its membership base to provide support to as many countries across the world as possible, and supporting those dealing with the potentially devastating consequences of this disease.

For further information please contact:

Georgia Ball                                                              Jessica Langoulant
Marketing & Fundraising Officer, CoMO                         Marketing & Communications Officer

Email: gball@ichr.uwa.edu.au                                      jlangoulant@ichr.uwa.edu.au
Phone: +61 499 078 577                                           +61 8 9489 7789 / +61 408 926 305

                                                            # # #

 References

1. Rodrigo C, Bakhache P, Rose M, et al. Parental awareness and knowledge about invasive meningococcal disease: results of a multinational survey. Poster presented at the 30^th Annual Meeting of the European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases, 8-12 May 2012.
2. WHO. Meningococcal meningitis. Fact sheet N°141. December 2011. Available at: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs141/en/index.html. Accessed March 2012
3. CDC. Meningitis questions & answers. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/meningococcal/about/index.html. Accessed March 2012.
4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (The Pink Book: Course Textbook). 10th Edition, 2nd printing. February 2008 update. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/mening.pdf. Accessed March 2012.
5. CDC. Factsheet: Meningococcal Disease and Meningococcal Vaccine. November 16, 2011. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/mening/vac-mening-fs.htm. Accessed March 2012.
6. Meningitis Trust factsheet. Meningitis vaccines: The facts. Available at: www.meningitis-trust.org/meningitis-info/what-is-meningitis/vaccines/. Accessed April 2012.

read more

Newsflash: New vaccine shows promise in protecting against common cause of meningitis

Researchers are an important step closer to finding a vaccine that protects against a wide range of strains of meningococcal B - the most common cause of meningococcal disease in Western Australia.

New research published Online First in The Lancet Infectious Diseases showed the trials of the potential vaccine had found it to be safe and that it stimulated an effective immune response.

The report's author Associate Professor Peter Richmond heads the Vaccine Trials Group, a collaboration between the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research and Princess Margaret Hospital.

"The development of a vaccine to protect against multiple strains of meningococcal B is particularly important in Western Australia and in many regions of Europe and North America where this particular type of meningococcal disease is most prevalent," Dr Richmond said.

"While children in Australia are routinely vaccinated against meningococcal C, there has been no vaccine available to protect against meningococcal B which is the most common cause of the disease in WA and in countries where Australians widely travel."

Dr Richmond said the trial data showed that the potential vaccine produced protective antibodies against 90% of the invasive meningococcus serogroup B strains tested.

This phase 2 trial enrolled 539 healthy adolescents from 25 sites across Australia, Poland, and Spain to test the safety and immune response of the lipoprotein 2086 vaccine.

The B strains of the bacteria account for more than 90% per cent of meningococcal cases in WA.

"Meningococcal B can cause meningitis and blood poisoning and can progress very quickly with devastating effects," Dr Richmond said.

"Children between the ages of one month and one year are most at risk from meningococcal with a second peak in adolescents.

"This is the last major cause of meningitis for which we don't have a vaccine so we are very excited about the progress towards developing a safe and effective vaccine."

Dr Richmond said the next stage of development would involve bigger trials in a wider range of age groups.

The research article abstract can be found at:

The Lancet Infectious Diseases, Early Online Publication, 7 May 2012
doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(12)70087-7

Source: Telethon Institute for Child Health Research

read more

GSK receives European authorisation for meningococcal conjugate vaccine

GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) announced today that the European Commission has granted marketing authorisation for Nimenrix (Meningococcal group A, C, W-135 and Y conjugate vaccine) for active immunisation against invasive meningococcal disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis serogroups A, C, W-135 and Y.

Thomas Breuer, Senior Vice-President, Head of Global Vaccine Development at GSK, commented: “GSK is pleased to have received approval in Europe for Nimenrix and looks forward to making this vaccine available to help protect individuals against what can be a life threatening disease.” 

About Nimenrix

Nimenrix is the first quadrivalent conjugate vaccine to be approved in Europe for active immunisation of individuals from 12 months of age against invasive meningococcal disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis serogroups A, C, W -135 and Y. Nimenrix is provided as one dose and is generally well tolerated.

Detailed information on the use of Nimenrix and its safety profile are described in the Summary of Product Characteristics, which will be published on the EMA website, together with the European Public Assessment Report (EPAR, http://www.ema.europa.eu) and in the Community Register of Medicinal Products on the European Commission’s website (http://ec.europa.eu/health/documents/community-register/html/index_en.htm).

For more information about this announcement please visit the GlaxoSmithKline website GlaxoSmithKline website

read more

Global communities urged to join the fight to stop meningitis this World Meningitis Day

World Meningitis Day, 24 April 2012, calls for people across the world to know about the signs and symptoms, urgency to treat and vaccines available to prevent this potentially deadly disease

Perth, Australia, 19 April 2012 – Today the Confederation of Meningitis Organisations (CoMO) is urging people all over the world to “Join Hands Against Meningitis” in an effort to reduce the global impact of the disease. The call-to-action encourages individuals, families and communities to learn the signs and symptoms of meningitis, the importance of urgent treatment of the disease, and that prevention is available through vaccination against some forms of meningitis.

Meningitis is a potentially deadly inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, which can be the result of a virus, bacteria, or other microorganisms, and can be associated with a potentially life-threatening blood infection (sepsis).[i]^,[ii] Each year hundreds of thousands of people around the world die from meningitis, or suffer life-long disabilities. Bacterial meningitis, which is the most severe and common form, causes around 170,000 deaths globally every year.^2,[iii] Those surviving meningitis can have their lives devastated as a result of long-term effects, such as deafness, brain damage, and limb-loss.^1,[iv]

While the disease can affect people of all ages, infants, children and adolescents are at an increased risk of infection.[v] Meningitis is not always easy to recognise in the early stages, and symptoms can be similar to those of the common flu.[vi] Some symptoms to look out for are fever, vomiting, headache, stiff neck, sensitivity to light, drowsiness, muscle and leg pain[1].^6,[vii] Many people do not know the warning signs of infection or that many types of meningitis can be vaccine-preventable.  

“CoMO is committed to eradicating meningitis across the globe. World Meningitis Day gives us the opportunity to remind communities that meningitis is a deadly disease and one that can cause death or permanent disability in hours. People need to know the signs and symptoms, the importance of urgent treatment and the preventive role of vaccines. Anyone can get meningitis and empowering people with knowledge about the disease could save a life. We encourage global communities to unite in the fight against meningitis this World Meningitis Day,” said Bruce Langoulant, President and Member of the Governing Council of CoMO and father of a meningitis survivor with significant disabilities.

CoMO and its members are recognising the fourth annual World Meningitis Day by hosting a series of events around the world to show strength in numbers and solidarity for this important cause. CoMO aims to unite one million people from all over the world – approximately the same number that will suffer from bacterial meningitis this year[viii] – to show their support and virtually join hands against meningitis at: www.comoonline.org

To drive better awareness of the signs and symptoms of meningitis, CoMO has today launched a video entitled ‘If I’d known then what I know now’ that features a range of people affected by meningitis and shares their knowledge in an effort to educate others and reduce the incidence of those impacted by the disease. The video can be accessed at: http://www.youtube.com/user/COMOmeningitis/featured  

Vaccines are available to help prevent some but not all strains of bacterial meningitis.¹ Additional vaccines are being developed to help prevent against other common strains. CoMO supports the use of approved, recommended vaccines, which have been shown to be safe and effective, as a means of preventing meningitis, and calls for the development and approval of new vaccines to help prevent remaining serogroups.

To learn more about meningitis and World Meningitis Day activities near you contact a CoMO member in your country or region. For information about vaccines available in your country, talk to your healthcare professional or visit the ‘Find a CoMO Member in My Country’ page to contact a CoMO member near you.

read more

National vaccine summit opens in Abuja - Africa

Nigeria is holding its first ever national vaccine summit in Abuja, the nation's capital, to mobilise sectors and commit to immunisation of women and children against vaccine preventable diseases.About one million Nigerian children are estimated to die annually from vaccine preventable diseases that can be reversed if immunisation coverage is improved.

At the opening of the summit in Abuja, the secretary to the government of the federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim lamented the high mortality rate of Nigerian children due to vaccine preventable diseases, and stressed the need for all sectors to increase collaboration now more than ever.

Senator Anyim said all sectors must unite to increase awareness on the benefits of vaccination.

In his words, "it is essential that we all join hands : government at all levels, the private sector, NGOs, development partners, traditional and religious institutions to educate our people on the benefits of vaccination, dispel false rumours and beliefs, mobilise the necessary resources for vaccination, and monitor the entire process of vaccination."

Efforts of government

The Nigerian government recognising the importance of vaccination has earmarked N6 billion to meet national vaccination needs, new vaccines are also being introduced into the country's immunisation schedule including Pentavalent in December 2011, and Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine to be introduced this month.
Senator Anyim however said that despite all the commitment of government, there are still gaps to be filled.

According to him, with "Nigeria's expanding population and increase in births, it is inevitable that there would be gaps, both in terms of vaccine availability and the necessary logistics and materials that would guarantee every eligible Nigerian child access to vaccines as at when due."

Result of Efforts

For the Executive Director of The National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Professor Ado Muhammed, the gaps to be filled include; "dwindling international funding, capacity and infrastructural challenges for logistics and cold chain maintenance, human resource constraints in the frontline and lingering socio-cultural barriers to immunisation.''

Professor Muhammed said that government's investments in immunisations are beginning to yield dividends with the national immunisation coverage rate for 2010 at 67.73%, but pointed out that this still falls short of an eighty per cent coverage target, and the total coverage expected to be achieved by 2015.

Also speaking at the summit, the Minister of State for Health, Professor Muhammed Ali Pate said the increased immunisation coverage has led to a reduction in incidences of vaccine preventable diseases.

"From thousands of cases of children paralyzed by polio in the past, we now have cases in the double digits. Measles which used to ravage our communities particularly in the hot season is now much reduced, thanks to integrated measles campaign efforts. Cerebrospinal meningitis which affected more than 55,000 Nigerians in early 2009 was reduced to less than 1,000 in entire 2011 and every limited case so far in 2012,"he said.

The Minister said: "Routine immunization coverage as measured by DPT3 increased from 42 percent in 2008 to 67 % in 2010, (WHO/NICS) full immunization coverage rose from 23% to 56 % in 2010(NICS)."

Benefits of Vaccine

Professor Ado Muhammed said that vaccination has a high cost benefit to the nation and would engender growth and development. "A projection by the john Hopkins international vaccine access centre indicates that scaling up vaccine coverage to 90% could over the next 10 years add up to 17 billion dollars to the Nigerian economy.''

Nigeria's first lady Patience Goodluck Jonathan who is also the President of the Africa first lady peace mission recommended that the summit considers institutionalising a bi annual African summit to offer a platform for regular monitoring programmes for the decade of the vaccine to ensure that by the end of the decade Africa would have achieved sufficiency in the availability of safe vaccines in the continent.

She also challenged the summit to establish a Nigerian alliance for vaccine initiative, a public private partnership to work in the same mode as Global Alliance for Vaccine Initiative GAVI.

Source: Salami, R 2012, 'National vaccine summit opens in Abuja' 17 March, viewed Tuesday 17 March <http://www.voiceofnigeria.org/Nigeria/National-vaccine-summit-opens-in-Abuja.html>

read more

Ghana introduces two new vaccines against pneumonia and diarrhoea - Africa

The Ministry of Health in Ghana has introduced two new vaccines to make Ghanaian children healthier and help achieve Millennium Development Goal (MDGs) 4, which aims at reducing child mortality by two-thirds by 2015.

They are the pneumococcal and rotavirus vaccines, which protects children from pneumonia and diarrhoea respectively, in line with World Health Organisation (WHO) standards.

The rotavirus vaccine prevents severe diarrhoeal diseases, which come with signs and symptoms as fever, vomiting and shock, leading to death.

It is spread through the faeco-oral route and caused by eating or putting items contaminated with faeces into the mouth.

The vaccines are given in two doses, a month apart. The first is given when the child is six weeks old and the second dose at 10 weeks.

The Ministry announced the introduction of the vaccines at a media briefing.

Experts say its side effects are rare but few occurrences have been reported, which include diarrhoea, irritability/crying, fever and abdominal pains in rare cases.

Pneumonia on the other hand, is the single largest cause of death in children worldwide, more than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined.

It is caused by the pneumoccous bacterium. The most common type of pneumococcal infections include middle ear infections, sinus infections, pneumonia and meningitis and spread through airborne droplet from cough or sneeze.

Its symptoms are rapid or difficult breathing, coughs, chills, loss of appetite and wheezing.

The vaccine is administered as an injection to infants in three doses, a month apart, on the right thigh. The schedule is six, 10 and 14 weeks.

All children are, therefore, eligible including the immune compromised children; children with minor illnesses are not contraindicated and can be vaccinated.

This represents an important advancement for public health in Ghana because children under five years, especially those between six months and two years are the most vulnerable to the disease,” Dr Kwadwo Odei Antwi-Agyei, National Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) said at a press briefing in Accra to introduce the vaccines.

The vaccines have been made available to Ghana with the support of over $35 million from GAVI Alliance, a global partnership dedicated to improving world health by ensuring access to immunisation in developing nations.

Dr Antwi-Agyei explained that Ghana needed the vaccines because globally one-third of the over 1.3 million children deaths under five each year was due to rotavirus, while an estimated 1.4 million children under five die due to pneumococcal diseases.

In Ghana, diarrhoeal diseases are among the top three causes of death among children under five, he said, and explained that the vaccination is the most effective and cost effective way of dealing with the two diseases.

Acting Director General of Ghana Health Service, Dr Frank Nyonator, noted that vaccines were cost effective and that with the exception of providing good drinking water, no other health intervention was as effective as immunisation in reducing diseases and mortality rates.

Source: 2012, 'Ghana introduce two new vaccines against pneumonia and diarrhoea', 13 April, viewed Monday 16 April <http://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2012/04/13/ghana-introduces-two-new-vaccines-against-pneumonia-and-diarrhoea/>

read more

Pneumococcal Vaccine Lagging on Asian Immunization Schedules - Hong Kong

Bruce Langoulant, Asia Pacific Regional Leader for the Confederation of Meningitis Organisations, fought for years to get pneumococcal vaccine on Australia's national immunization program after his daughter was left with a range of chronic conditions – including epilepsy and cerebral palsy – from pneumococcal meningitis. The vaccine is on the immunization programs in North America, Europe and many Latin America countries, but Asia still lags behind. 

Pneumococcal disease – which is caused by Streptococcus pneumonia and can lead to pneumococcal meningitis – is the biggest killer of children in the world, according to the GAVI Alliance. The World Health Organization estimates that 500,000 young children die every year from pneumococcal infection, mostly in developing countries that do not vaccinate.

Pneumococcal vaccines are widely used in Europe and the United States, leading to a drastic reduction in the number of cases and deaths. In 2007 the WHO recommended that pneumococcal vaccines be included in national immunization programs.

In countries like India and Pakistan as well as several countries in Southeast Asia there are more than 3,000 new cases every year for every 100,000 children under the age of five.

In Asia, few countries have taken it up. Only Hong Kong, Macau and Singapore include a pneumococcal vaccine in their immunization programs but these three countries have a combined population of about 13 million, less than some cities in China or India and a mere percentage of the population of Indonesia. Taiwan includes the vaccine in some sectors and people in South Korea with access to private care can get the vaccine. Australia also includes the vaccine in its national program but only after a long process of lobbying and campaigning.

Other than Africa, Asia has the highest disease burden in the world. In countries like India and Pakistan as well as several countries in Southeast Asia there are more than 3,000 new cases every year for every 100,000 children under the age of five, and five of the 10 countries facing the highest incidence of pneumococcal infection are in Asia – India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

"We see a real gap in penetration in Asia," Pfizer Inc. Senior Director for Scientific Affairs, Vaccines Ralf Rene Reinert said. Reinert was in Hong Kong at the end of February for the Asian Pneumococcal Disease Conference, organized by Pfizer. "Many countries don't have data on the burden of disease."

There are several vaccines available against pneumococcal disease.

Pfizer makes Prevnar13, which provides immunization against 13 strains of Streptococcus pneumonia, approved for children six weeks through 5 years of age and adults over 50. The vaccine was originally developed by Wyeth, which Pfizer acquired in 2009. The first version of Prevnar protected against seven serotypes and was introduced in 2001 ("Accelerated Approval Does Not Accelerate ACIP Recommendation For Prevnar 13 In Adults" — "The Pink Sheet," Mar. 5, 2012 5:00 AM GMT).

GlaxoSmithKline Inc. produces Synflorix, which protects against 10 serotypes of pneumococcus. Synflorix was introduced in Europe in 2009.

There is an older vaccine, a pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine best known as Pneumovax 23, which is produced by Merck & Co. Inc. The vaccine is not recommended for use in children younger than 2 or peopled aged 65 or older.

Low Vaccine Penetration Despite Availability

Despite the availability of vaccines, Asian countries have been slow to move towards large-scale vaccination campaigns or inclusion in national programs.

Pfizer and GSK both supply their pneumococcal vaccines to the GAVI Alliance at reduced cost, and both companies committed to supply 480 million doses by 2020. But the GAVI Alliance is bringing the vaccines to the poorest countries, leaving countries that are not in the bottom tier to find ways to provide the drugs to their citizens ("GAVI Alliance Builds On Matching Fund On Heels Of Pfizer And GSK Vaccine Deal For Developing Countries" — PharmAsia News, Jan. 27, 2012 6:00 PM GMT).\

Daniel Goh, head of pediatrics at National University Hospital in Singapore and President of the ASEAN Pediatric Federation, said the issue is pressing. Governments have been resistant to adopt vaccines in their national immunization programs.

"The vaccine is available. People who are more health conscious and visit private care are getting it. ... "We are talking about the most deadly disease in this world for children" - Dagan

"In Asia, we have the problem of multiple-antibiotic resistance, which brings up the fact that prevention is the best way to tackle the disease," Goh said, highlighting large-scale vaccination as a key component of prevention.

Part of the problem is convincing governments to take the expensive step to vaccinate, which is made difficult by the fact that pneumococcal infection is often misdiagnosed or missed altogether. The pneumococcal bacteria works through a series of conditions that can range from painful – like otitis media – to deadly – like meningitis.

It can be transmitted by a runny nose and physical contact. "Children are a very important tool to spread the disease," said Ron Dagan, the director of the pediatric infectious disease unit at the Department of Pediatrics at Soroka University in Israel. "We have to protect the children but also prevent the spread of the disease from the children to others."

"The vaccine is available. People who are more health conscious and visit private care are getting it," said Dagan. "We are talking about the most deadly disease in this world for children."

Source: Romann, A 2012, 'Pneumococcal Vaccine Lagging on Asian Immunization Schedules, Pfizer Spreading Word For Prevnar 13' 23 March, viewed 29 March 2012 <http://www.elsevierbi.com/publications/pharmasia-news/2012/3/23/pneumococcal-vaccine-lagging-on-asian-immunization-schedules-pfizer-spreading-word-for-prevnar-13>

read more

Vaccine given approval by European Medicines Agency to be used in children - UK

Meningitis Research Foundation (MRF) welcomes the news that a meningitis vaccine has been given positive opinion by the European Medicines Agency's (EMA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) to be used in children from the age of 2.

Menveo (manufactured by Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics) is already licensed for those aged 11 and older to prevent meningococcal A, C, W135 and Y infection, which can cause meningitis and septicaemia. It is currently used in the UK for people travelling to Saudi Arabia on Hajj and to other countries where the risk is particularly high. It is also offered to people with certain immune system problems and for close contacts of anyone who becomes ill with meningococcal A, W or Y infection.

The positive opinion is one of the final steps before regulatory approval.

Responding to this news Christopher Head, MRF’s Chief Executive, said: “We are delighted to see Menveo recommended for licensure in Europe for children from 2 years of age. This news presents a renewed opportunity for wider protection against these deadly infections, and we urge government advisors to consider the potential for routine use of more broadly protective vaccines.

The vaccine offers protection against four major types of meningococcal disease, A, C, W and Y. Whilst this is promising news, it is important to remember that most cases of meningitis and septicaemia are not vaccine-preventable. For this reason, vaccine research must continue, and MRF is currently funding 19 research projects, many of which are focused on vaccine development. It also remains crucial to be aware of the symptoms of meningitis and septicaemia."

Meningitis and septicaemia can be hard to recognise at first. Symptoms can appear in any order, and can include fever, vomiting, headache and feeling unwell, just like in many mild illnesses. Symptoms, such as cold hands and feet, pale or mottled skin, and limb, joint or muscle pain, often appear earlier than these symptoms so people need to be vigilant.

Source: Meningitis Research Foundation 2012, United Kingdom, viewed 26 March, 2012 <http://www.meningitis.org/news-media/vaccine-given-approval-by-60536>

read more

Meningitis kills 11 in Amuru - Africa

read more

Uganda: Amuru On High Alert for Meningitis - Africa

Amuru district has embarked on active surveillance following a suspected outbreak of meningitis that has left two people dead and 14 showing symptoms of the disease.

The patients, from Palwong parish in Amuru district, have been referred to Gulu regional referral hospital following last week's deaths, both in Amuru.

"We suspected about 12 to 14 people diagnosed with signs similar to symptoms of meningitis, whom we have referred to the Gulu regional referral hospital," said Amuru deputy District Health Officer, Charles Okwera. He said specimens from the patients had been taken to Lacor hospital in Gulu to establish whether or not the condition is meningitis, which will help specialists detect the cause of the infection.

"We're yet to receive the results from the tests to ascertain the exact condition, but most of the patients feel feverish and complain of headache and pain in the neck," Okwera said.

Three cases of meningococcal meningitis were reportedly registered in Amuru between 2006 and 2007. At the time, about 40 health workers from Amuru and Gulu were reoriented in detecting, diagnosing, treatment and prevention of the disease. During the same period, 65 deaths caused by meningitis were confirmed in West Nile districts of Arua, Koboko, Yumbe, Adjumani, Moyo and Nebbi. Okwera said Amuru district is currently on high alert and residents have been asked to report suspected meningitis cases to their nearest health units.

Meningitis is a condition characterized by an inflammation of the meninges, the covering of the brain and spinal cord, which is most often caused by bacterial, viral, or fungal infection.

Source: Otto, A 2012, 'Uganda: Amuru On High Alert for Meningitis' allAfrica, 15 March, viewed 20 March 2012, <http://allafrica.com/stories/201203161290.html>

read more

Pneumococcal vaccine in kids driving strains out of adults - Canada

Can a vaccine work too well?

For an individual, probably not. But for the makers of newer pneumococcal vaccines that were first marketed for kids but which are now being aimed at older adults, it may turn out that the answer is actually yes.

There has been a large spillover effect in adults from the use of these vaccines in children, studies show. So large, in fact, that adults appear to be getting the benefits of the vaccines without having been vaccinated -- a bonus that may actually undermine the efforts of one manufacturer, Pfizer, to promote widespread use of its pneumococcal vaccine in older adults.

"It may have worked too well in children to make it necessary in adults. It's quite possible," admits Dr. Jeffrey Duchin, head of the communicable disease epidemiology and immunization section of Seattle and King County Public Health Department and a professor in the school of public health at the University of Washington.

"The childhood vaccination program may have such positive indirect effects on adult invasive pneumococcal disease that the rationale for vaccinating adults is much less strong."

This is a story of herd immunity in action.

That term describes the phenomenon of protecting a group of people -- the herd -- by protecting enough individual members so that a pathogen cannot continue to spread efficiently within the group. It takes different rates of vaccination to achieve herd immunity for individual bacteria or viruses, depending on factors like how contagious the pathogen is, how many strains of it exist and whether infection with or vaccinating against one strain offers protection against others.

In this case, the disease agent is Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria, a major cause of pneumonia in adults and children, and of inner ear infections in young kids. As well, the bacteria can invade the blood, the cerebrospinal fluid, or more rarely the fluid in joints, or the lining of the lungs or heart -- a development called invasive pneumococcal disease.

The newer vaccines were brought to market to protect against invasive pneumococcal disease, which can trigger meningitis and blood infections, sometimes with tragic consequences. These severe infections can cause permanent hearing loss or brain damage, and some children who suffered from acute blood infections have lost fingers and toes.

Read the complete story now!

Source: 'Pneumococcal Vaccine in kids driving strains out of adults', The Canadian Express, 19 March, viewed 20 March 2012 <http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Health/20120319/pneumococcal-vaccine-herd-immunity-120319/>

read more

Prevention really is better than cure - Thailand

Why a vaccination against pneumococcal infections can save the lives of a child or an elderly person

Ashleigh Langoulant was just six months old when she fell sick with meningitis, an often fatal disease caused by Streptococcus pneumonia bacteria.

The little girl survived but developed cerebral palsy. Today, at 23, she's still unable to walk or talk and her dad, Bruce, chairman of the non-profit Australian Meningitis Centre and president of the Confederation of Meningitis Organisation (COMO), travels the world to try and persuade both authorities and parents of the urgency to put the vaccine against the disease on the schedule of compulsory vaccinations for children.

Langoulant told Ashleigh's story again during the recent Asia Pneumococcal Disease conference in Hong Kong.

Pneumococcal infections are caused by the bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae, also known as pneumococcus. Pneumococcal disease (PD) affects society's most vulnerable groups, in particular infants and children under 5 years of age, the elderly (adults over 65) and people with underlying medical conditions.

The most common types of infections caused by this bacteria include otitis media (middle ear infections), pneumonia, bacteraemia (a relatively mild infection of the blood), septicaemia (a more serious blood infection), sinusitis and meningitis.

The bacteria are spread through contact between persons who are ill or who carry the bacteria in their throat. Transmission is mostly through the spread of respiratory droplets from the nose or mouth of a person with a pneumococcal infection.

Pneumococcal bacteria are common inhabitants of the human respiratory tract but cause danger to the body when immunity is weakened.

The incidence is highest in young children aged under five and in the elderly.

Pneumonia, bacteraemia, and meningitis are all invasive pneumococcal infections caused by the same bacteria, but have different symptoms.

As they arrive along with the rainy season, those not alert to the threat may discount the symptoms, which include fever, chills, chest pain, cough, shortness of breath and weakness, as flu and fail to seek treatment.

"Understanding of pneumococcal disease is limited not only among the public but also among general practitioners," says Infectious Diseases specialist, Dr Wichai Techasathit.

Since pneumonia is caused by different types of microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, and fungi, so it creates different types of the illness and in different degrees.

In Asia, one child under the age of five dies every two minutes from pneumococcal disease. More than half of pneumococcal disease episodes and deaths occur in Asia alone.

Mortality rates have approved in the Western world, where the pneumococcal vaccine is generally included in the child vaccination programme.

Dr Wichai adds that the pneumococcal disease is also commonly found in the elderly, with a fatality rate of 34 per 100,000 people.

But with 10 per cent of Thailand's population already past retirement age and growing by the year, increased risk from the disease is cause concern.

Dr Wichai adds that the disease also strikes those whose immunity has been weakened by large intakes of alcohol and cigarettes, which puts elderly Thais at even more risk.

Though antibiotics are the treatment of choice, antibiotic resistance has become a major problem, and no more so than in Thailand.

"One problem is that Thai people can buy antibiotics over the counter, leading to improper antibiotic intake and a build-up of resistance," he says.

Vaccination can help control the growing problem of antibiotic-resistant PD as vaccination reduces the need for antibiotics resulting in lower rates of resistant bacteria.

After years of providing vaccines against pneumococcal disease in children, Pzifer is now helping the world's greying population lead healthier lives.

Just last year, the US FDA approved a vaccine for adults 50 years and older to help prevent pneumonia. The vaccine protects against 13 strains of pneumococcus.

Thailand has also approved the vaccine and the health authorities are recommending men and women over the age of 50 to have the jab. The vaccine for adults is now available in US and most European countries, while Thailand is the second country in Asia that has received approval from FDA. It is a conjugate vaccine, meaning that it's more effective in helping the body's immune system recognise the bacteria and has a longer lasting immune response time

Like any vaccine, the shot should be given while you are feeling healthy. The immune response takes around two weeks.

"It's useless to have the vaccine when the symptoms have already started," says Dr Wichai.

The vaccine is also recommended for those with weakened immunity, such as diabetics, those who have been through surgery to remove the spleen, heavy drinkers and smokers and those with HIV.

The pneumococcal vaccine for adults is typically given only once.

The Education Brief Meeting on Pneumococcal Disease was organised in Hong Kong by Pfizer.

*Vaccines availability differs from country to country. For more information about the vaccines available to prevent meningitis in your country, talk to your doctor or visit the ‘Find a CoMO Member in My Country’ page to contact a CoMO member near you.

Source: Pajee, P 2012, 'Prevention really is better than a cure', The Nation, 15 March, viewed 15 March 2012, <http://www.nationmultimedia.com/life/Prevention-really-is-better-than-cure-30177943.html>

read more

Hib vaccination soon to be available for all infants in India

Delhi is soon going to include haemophilus influenza type B (Hib) vaccine as a part of the routine immunization programme for infants. It will secure babies against Hib infections - a leading cause of childhood bacterial meningitis, pneumonia, and other serious infections such as septicemia. While the state government's free immunization programme has been for long giving DPT (diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus) and hepatitis B vaccines, there has been no provision for Hib infections, which are almost entirely preventable with vaccine.

"We have written to the union health ministry for the release of pentavalent vaccines - as is being done in the case of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The new vaccine provides protection against diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, hepatitis B and Hib infections in a single shot," said Delhi health minister A K Walia. He said that the vaccine is administered to infants when they are 6 weeks, 10 weeks and 14 weeks old. It will be administered to children at over 650 government dispensaries, maternal and child welfare centres (M&CW) and tertiary health care centres.

Senior health officials said that the move is aimed at reducing the rate of infant mortality in the capital. "Between 2009 and 2010, the infant mortality rate (children dying within the first year of birth) has increased from 18.96 per thousand to 22.47 per thousand. Many of these deaths are caused by bacterial meningitis and pneumonia," the official said.

Source: Soon, Hib vaccination for all kids, The Times of India, viewed 27 February 2012, <http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-02-25/delhi/31100276_1_hib-pentavalent-dpt>

read more

New Meningitis Vaccine given approval by European Medicines Agency - United Kingdom

MRF welcomes the news that a new meningitis vaccine – Nimenrix® has been given positive opinion by the European Medicines Agency's (EMA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP).
The EMA recommends that Nimenrix® (MenACWY-TT) be licensed for individuals aged 12 months and above against meningococcal disease caused by serogroups A, C, W -135 and Y.

The positive opinion is one of the final steps before regulatory approval. As part of its assessment the EMA reviewed immunogenicity and safety data from more than 8000 patients aged 1 year and above. The clinical program included 17 clinical studies conducted in 17 countries worldwide. This new vaccine was submitted for approval by GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals.

Responding to this news Christopher Head, MRF’s Chief Executive, said: “We are delighted to see another meningitis vaccine recommended for licensure in Europe. This news marks another significant step in the fight against meningitis. This vaccine presents a renewed opportunity for broader protection against these deadly infections than is currently provided within the routine immunisation programme, and MRF urges government to consider its use.”

The vaccine offers protection against four major types of meningococcal disease, A, C, W and Y. Whilst this is promising news, it is important to remember that not all forms of meningitis and septicaemia are vaccine-preventable. For this reason, vaccine research must continue, and MRF is currently funding 19 research projects, many of which are focused on vaccine development.

It also remains crucial to be aware of the symptoms of meningitis and septicaemia. Meningitis and septicaemia can be hard to recognise at first and symptoms can appear in any order.

For information on the signs and symptoms of meningitis and septicaemia, please contact a CoMO member in your country or region.

* The Meningitis Research Foundation is an inaugural member of the Confederation of Meningitis Organisations.

Source: Meningitis Research Foundation, UK

read more

20 million people vaccinated against meningitis in the meningitis belt - Africa

In sub-Saharan Africa’s “meningitis belt,” provisional results from the fall and winter vaccination campaign season are in. In the two years since MenAfriVac™ became available, nearly 55 million people have received the vaccine designed especially to protect them against group A meningococcal meningitis.

Arriving regularly in epidemic waves, meningitis A threatens the lives and well-being of millions living in countries stretching from Senegal in the west to Ethiopia in the east. In December 2010, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger became the first three countries to introduce a new vaccine developed by the Meningitis Vaccine Project (MVP), a partnership between PATH and the World Health Organization. In late 2011, Cameroon, Chad, and Nigeria joined in, reaching more than 21 million people—most aged 1 to 29 years old—with MenAfriVac™.

For more on MVP watch the World Without Meningitis video by PATH below.

So far, no meningitis

So far, not a single case of meningitis A has been reported among the nearly 20 million people who received one dose of MenAfriVac™ in 2010. Studies are continuing in all six countries to assess the vaccine’s effectiveness.
Meanwhile, work is ongoing to prepare for the next vaccination campaign season, coming in late 2012. If support continues, plans are to eventually reach 320 million people with the vaccine, potentially making the “meningitis belt” a memory.

Source: Donnelly, K 2012, Meningitis Vaccine Reaches Millions more in 2011, PATH, viewed 20 February 2012 <http://www.path.org/blog/2012/02/meningitis-vaccine-reaches-millions-more/>

read more

Meningitis B vaccine ‘effective as part of child vaccine schedule’ - United Kingdom

A meningitis B vaccine could be added to the routine schedule for infant vaccines without affecting its immunogenicity, finds a large European study.

The randomised controlled trial – funded by Novartis - found that the multicomponent ‘4CMenB' vaccine was effective when given as part of the routine childhood vaccination schedule and shows minimal interference with the routine vaccines.

After three vaccinations, 99% of infants developed immunity - defined by researchers as a human complement serum bactericidal activity titre of 1.5 or greater – against two strains of meningitis B.

In children who were vaccinated at two, four and six months, alongside their routine vaccinations, 79% developed immunity. Of those who received the vaccine at two, four and six months, and had their routine vaccinations separately, 86% developed immunity. And of those who had the vaccination at two, three and four months alongside their routine vaccinations, 82% developed immunity.

Study author Professor Andrew Pollard, professor of paediatric infection and immunity at the University of Oxford, said: ‘The flexibility in schedule allows [4CMenB vaccine] to be incorporated into a range of country-specific immunisation schedules and for primary immunisation to be completed in early infancy.'

Source: Pulse - United Kingdom

read more

NEWSFLASH: Cote d'Ivoire: Meningitis spreads as people scramble for vaccine - Africa

Eleven people have died from meningitis out of 40 reported cases in four departments across Côte d’Ivoire as of 31 January, leaving people scrambling to access the vaccine for their families.

The Ministry of Health has declared the outbreaks in the departments of Kouto and Tengrela in the north as epidemics, and is providing free vaccinations in both locations through mobile health teams, with the help of the World Health Organization and UNICEF.

Bacterial and viral meningitis are diseases which cause inflammation in layers of the brain and spinal cord, and the former has a high fatality rate.

Residents of also-affected Saminkro in the centre of the country and Kani in the centre-west must pay US$5 each for a vaccination, or $3 if they come forward as a group. Ivoirians in these departments - and in surrounding areas - are lobbying the Health Ministry to bring down prices as many cannot afford to raise enough money to vaccinate their families.

“It’s a question of economics,” Jeremie Ipo, director of the district health centre in the village of Poungbè in Korhogo region, told IRIN. “We can only reduce the price of the vaccine as soon as there are enough people demanding it.”

The government recently abandoned the provision of free health care for all because of skyrocketing costs. While birth deliveries and some immunizations for children under age six are still covered, meningitis is not included.

Côte d’Ivoire is part of the meningitis belt of sub-Saharan Africa, which stretches from Senegal in the west to Ethiopia in the east. A 2009-2010 meningitis outbreak killed over 900 people and infected over 13,000 in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Nigeria.

Source: IRIN Humanitarian News and Analysis

read more

Meningitis Research Foundation welcomes government committee support for a teenage vaccination against meningitis - United Kingdom

Meningitis Research Foundation (MRF) funded research has contributed to new advice from JCVI (Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation) to the UK Government recommending a new Meningitis C (MenC) vaccine booster in early adolescence to maintain long term protection against meningitis and septicaemia caused by meningococcal C disease. 

Chris Head, Chief Executive of MRF, said: “We warmly welcome this advice to ensure cases of the disease do not increase again. MenC vaccination has been a great success. Since its introduction in 1999, MenC disease has fallen rapidly with only 20 cases of the disease recorded in 2010/2011. Over 10,000 cases have been prevented in the last 11 years and more than 1,000 lives saved. We have campaigned to see this success continue with the introduction of an adolescent boost. It is very important to prevent carriage of the bacteria in this age group, which plays a key role in circulating the bug.”

MenC’s success has largely been down to the targeted ‘catch-up’ campaign vaccinating all children and teenagers under the age of 18 and subsequently up to 25 years of age reducing carriage of the bacteria in the population. Children vaccinated since the original campaign are up to 12 years of age now, and although protected during their infancy, they are unlikely to remain immune to MenC in their teens and into adulthood. 
To prevent waning immunity in this age group the committee recommends a teenage boost. To achieve this, they recommend moving one of two MenC infant doses. The research shows protection for very young children would not be affected. 

Chris Head added “We must continue monitoring and surveillance to ensure that the current very low levels of MenC disease are maintained and there is no upsurge in cases of MenY which have risen slightly in recent years. We urge the committee to make an early recommendation on implementation so that this extra level of protection against this deadly disease is delivered as soon as possible.”

For more information about the Meningitis Research Foundation visit their website. 

Source: The Meningitis Research Foundation, United Kingdom.

read more

CoMO joins a new coalition that calls for more effective adult immunisation across Europe

The Confederation of Meningitis Organisations has joined with other public health advocates and professionals across Europe to create a dedicated partnership entitled Supporting Active Aging Through Immunisation (SAATI) to encourage comprehensive adult immunization policies to reduce the incidence of vaccine-preventable diseases in Europe.

On Monday 23 January 2012 SAATI announced their commitment to tackle low public awareness of the risk and burden of vaccine-preventable diseases in older adults. 

During the European Union’s (EU) 2012 Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations, SAATI will engage with policy makers and other stakeholders to examine how vaccination, as a prevention strategy, should be part of an age-based health approach throughout all phases of life. Currently, vaccination policy is patchy and mainly considers the very young, the very old or those in at-risk groups. 

“We are taking advantage of the EU’s focus on Active Ageing to underline the need to review European policies, practices and communication around adult vaccination,” stated Professor Javier Garau, SAATI Chair and former President of ESCMID. “Vaccination is a particularly relevant health strategy for adults since the immune system weakens as we get older, and this increases our risk of contracting serious yet vaccine-preventable diseases, such as flu and pneumococcal disease. In addition, the symptoms and impact of these diseases are often poorly understood by the general public.  Unlike with infants, there are no comprehensive or consistent guidelines for adult immunisation, and we believe this is one of the major barriers to reducing preventable and sometimes fatal illnesses.”

Across Europe, pneumonia alone is estimated to cost over 10 billion Euros in direct and indirect costs annually.1 This should be a concern for European policy makers, not only because of Europe’s ageing society but equally due to pressures all governments are facing to better manage the costs of healthcare and social welfare.

“Immunisation is not just for children, but is essential across the life course. We need to normalise immunisation as an important part of healthy ageing. Comprehensive adult vaccination strategies would significantly reduce the incidence and burden to individuals, employers and healthcare systems,” said Baroness Sally Greengross, Chief Executive of the International Longevity Centre, United Kingdom.

CoMO Vice President Daphne Holt represents CoMO at SAATI.

"We at CoMO are proud to be part of SAATI and to be working closely with other organisations committed to raising awarenss of those diseases that can be prevented by vaccination. While it's commonly known that bacterial meningitis is prominently seen in young children and adolescents it also has an impact on older adults and we fully support this European Initiative," said Daphne.

The EU has identified healthy ageing as a societal challenge common to all European countries. As such, it has designated 2012 as the Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations. This year will provide the opportunity to further investigate the role of prevention and health management strategies for older adults to enable them to maintain an active role in society.

At an inaugural planning meeting on 27-28 October 2011, SAATI partners met to share their views and insights on what constitutes the main barriers to effective immunisation programmes for adults in Europe. Despite a broad consensus by EU Health Ministers on the value of vaccines, adult immunisation rates remain highly unpredictable and variable.  SAATI will be working with a range of other partners to better understand the root causes and propose policy-related solutions for the future.

More information

For more information about the Supporting Active Aging Through Immunisation (SAATI) read the SAATI Consensus Statement on Barriers and Call To Action.

read more

Vaccine Against Bacterial Meningitis Shows Promise, United States of America

A new vaccine to protect against meningococcus B, a common cause of bacterial meningitis, shows promise in clinical trials, researchers in Chile report.

Vaccines that protect from four other strains of Neisseria meningitides, a bacteria that causes meningococcal disease, are already in use or in the last stages of development, according to a news release from The Lancet. The other strains include A, C, W135 and Y.

The new research examined the effectiveness of the vaccine for strain B, which remains a significant source of meningococcal disease in North America, South America and Europe.

Researchers tested the vaccine called 4CMenB at 12 sites in Chile. More than 1,600 teens aged 11 to 17 were given either one, two or three doses of the vaccine at one-, two- and three-month intervals, or a placebo.

After two or three doses, nearly all of the teens had blood test results that indicated they were protected from meningococcus B, compared to 92 to 97 percent of teens who got one dose of the vaccine and 29 to 50 percent who received a placebo.

“This pivotal study shows that two doses of the novel 4CMenB vaccine separated by 1, 2, or 6 months provide a potentially protective immune response in almost 100 percent of adolescents irrespective of previous antibody status,” the study authors wrote.

The study is published online Jan. 17 in The Lancet.

The study authors pointed out the vaccine had no harmful effects on the teens involved in the trial. They added the amount of protection the vaccine provides will depend on where people live since strains of the bacteria vary, and more research is needed to determine how this vaccine will affect other age groups.

“Further study is needed to provide information about the immunogenicity and tolerability of 4CMenB in various age groups, including infants, who bear the largest disease burden worldwide,” they wrote.

Meningitis is an inflammation of the membranes covering the spinal cord and the brain. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, meningitis can be caused by a virus or a bacteria. The bacterial form is often more severe and can result in brain damage, hearing loss and death.

Before the 1990s, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) was the leading cause of bacterial meningitis. Today, the Hib vaccine is part of routine pediatric immunizations.

Source: Health.com

read more

30 people test positive for meningitis in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

An outbreak of meningococcal meningitis infects at least 30 people in Ho Chi Minh City as of Tuesday according to the Center of Preventive Health.

According a report in Thanh Nien News, Tran Phu Manh Sieu, director of the HCMC Center for Preventive Health, is quoted as saying that the cases were detected among workers of the Japanese-owned Furukawa Automotive Parts Vietnam’s factory in Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone, District 7.

In response to this, the Health Center has prescribed prophylactic antibiotics to all of the 6,200 employees of the plant.

They also report local agencies started inspections Tuesday at other factories in Tan Thuan and launch campaigns to raise local workers’ awareness about the disease.

This all comes at a time when the Vietnamese Ministry of Health has issued a meningitis warning for the upcoming TET holiday festivities starting January 22.

With the cold weather and increased travel during the Lunar New Year, health officials say this could be “danger time” for spread of the contagion.

Source: The Examiner

read more

New state law requires meningitis vaccine for new college students, United States of America

A new Texas law called the Jamie Schanbaum and Nicolis Williams Act is named in honor of two students who were stricken by meningitis in Texas.

Senate Bill 1107 requires that new college students under the age of 30, transfer students, and students who have been away from school for a semester or more show proof of a bacterial meningitis vaccination before attending class.

Anyone whose vaccination is more than five years old must get a booster for the potentially deadly disease.

Local clinics have stocked up on the vaccine and medical experts are hoping the new law will help prevent potential cases.

The new law took effect Monday.  On average, 12 college students die of bacterial meningitis each year in the United States.

Watch the news article reporting on this new law online now!

Source: KENS5, Texas

read more

Deadly meningitis difficult to diagnose early - Canada

The disease can look harmless at first, mimicking flu symptoms.

But meningitis usually worsens quickly and the bacterial infection can kill or leave those who survive with lifelong complications including brain damage, hearing or vision loss and amputation.

“It is a race against time,” said Kathryn Blain.

The Conestogo woman knows all too well the frightening reality of the disease. Her teenage son Michael Longo died of meningitis in 1995 just a couple of days after becoming ill.

“Initially, it’s a challenge to diagnose,” said Karen Quigley-Hobbs, director of infectious disease for Region of Waterloo Public Health. “Sometimes it’s just so muted that it’s hard to tell until it progresses.”

Early symptoms include fever, headache, stiff neck and vomiting — similar to symptoms caused by bugs circulating in the community at this time of year.

Fatality is highest among teenagers. Treatment usually requires hospitalization and aggressive intravenous antibiotics, along with managing other complications.

In this region, there were 17 reported cases between 2006 and 2010. During a local outbreak in the late 1990s, two teenagers died and several others became seriously ill.

“It’s still a relatively rare disease,” Quigley-Hobbs said. “But that being said, there are very, very severe consequences.”

Blain’s mission since losing her son is to educate parents about meningitis.

“They don’t want to be me,” she said. “It’s a club you don’t want to join as a parent who’s lost their child to what is now preventable.”

She founded the Meningitis Research Foundation of Canada, which works to increase public awareness, fund research and also lobby government for better immunization programs.

According to a recent study, the vast majority of parents don’t know the most common strain of meningitis in Canada is meningitis B, which is not protected against in current vaccines. Only three out of five parents know if their child is vaccinated against meningitis.

“I think parents need to make it a priority to know what this is about, because it is a potential killer,” Blain said. “People need not have to die from a vaccine-preventable disease.”

The current meningitis vaccine offering broad protection was not available when Blain’s son got sick.

Most meningitis infections are caused by five strains: A, B, C, Y and W-135. Four of those are covered by vaccinations currently available in Canada. One offering protection from the B strain is currently being reviewed.

Waterloo Region’s vaccination rate for the Grade 7 school program is at about 80 per cent, but still that leaves about one out of five students unprotected.

Some people carry the bacteria in their nose and throat for years without becoming sick, Quigley-Hobbs said. It’s spread in droplets through close contact or by sharing personal items.

Illness is caused in rare cases when the bacteria get into the membrane around the brain or bloodstream. Teenagers, young adults and infants are most commonly affected.

Blain encourages parents to learn more about meningitis and vaccinations in general, recognizing that it can be overwhelming with all the recommended childhood immunizations.

“We have options here,” she said. “It breaks my heart to pick up the phone and talk to a parent who says, ‘I didn’t know.’ ”

Source: The Record, Canada

read more

MRF members to descend on Parliament - United Kingdom

MRF campaigners are today descending on Parliament to ensure meningitis remains a top health priority in the NHS reforms. The Meningitis Matters campaign has been prompted by fears that the radical NHS reforms may destabilise progress that has been made to control meningitis and septicaemia (the blood poisoning form of the disease).

New research released today shows that 75% of parents across the UK rated meningitis as one of their most feared infectious diseases for their child. 89% of parents questioned also said that meningitis should be considered a high public health priority, demonstrating the support for the Meningitis Matters campaign.

MRF member Mette Mitchell, whose daughter Miko survived meningitis B when she was just six months old said, “Nothing could have prepared me for the horror of seeing Miko suffer from bacterial meningitis and not knowing whether she would live or die. Thanks to early treatment her life was saved, but every time I hug her now I am reminded that we could so easily have lost her.”

“I am backing the Meningitis Matters campaign to make sure that meningitis care does not become sidelined within the NHS reforms and to ensure that other families in the UK don’t have to face what my family has been through.”

With bacterial meningitis and septicaemia affecting around 3,400 individuals in the UK every year, thirty-three Meningitis Matters campaigners are meeting with their local MP in Parliament to raise their concerns about the planned changes to the NHS and how they must not negatively impact the prevention and treatment of diseases and supports offered to survivors and their families. The day will conclude with a Parliamentary reception for all MP’s and Lords who will be encouraged to support Early Day Motion 2476.

Chris Head, CEO of MRF said, “Despite the progress in vaccination, many parents are unaware that their children are currently not fully protected against all strains of the diseases. This campaign provides practical recommendations to politicians to ensure that meningitis and septicaemia remain at the heart of public health and calls on the public to remain vigilant of the signs and symptoms of the diseases”.

For more information about Meningitis Matters and the Meningitis Research Foundation please visit the Meningitis Research Foundation website.

read more

Message from the President of the Confederation of Meningitis Organisations

This year has been a very busy year for the Confederation of Meningitis Organisations (CoMO) and as 2011 comes to a close CoMO President Bruce Langoulant reflects on what we have achieved over the year and looks ahead to 2012 and our three focus areas – How we can help each other, how we can build our regions, and how we can reach out to those in underserved parts of the world.

read more

'Teachers didn't see after-effects of my meningitis' - United Kingdom

Eighteen-year-old Alex Williams fondly remembers playing football with his friends in the playground and enjoying the hurly-burly of primary school.

But that was before he had meningitis at the age of seven.

"Afterwards, I couldn't do any of that. I had no friends when I left primary school. The teachers didn't understand my problems so I was bullied a lot."

At secondary school the situation only got worse.

Alex knew he was suffering from memory loss, finding it hard to organise his work and concentrate during classes, but because he had "survived" meningitis and suffered no obvious physical disabilities, nobody recognised the learning difficulties that the disease had created.

"People think you either live or die with meningitis. If you live then you're fine.

"But they don't realise about the brain damage done by the disease and the behavioural problems it creates.

"If I'd had one-to-one support at school, like I did at college, then things might have been different."

Instead, he was labelled as a disruptive child - something you get stuck with, he says.

'Rebooted'

 Alex first noticed feeling unwell at his parents' wedding when he was seven years old.

He was rushed to hospital and spent two months recovering from bacterial meningitis, a life-threatening disease which attacks the membranes covering the brain and spine.

"At one point they thought I wouldn't make it," he says frankly.

"I suffered a lot of internal injuries, like kidney failure. I had to be rebooted, basically."

The terrible pain he first felt in his left leg is still present today and means he is now confined to a wheelchair.

Walking is just too difficult and painful. He may yet have to face the amputation of his leg in the future.

Alex takes a morphine-based tablet every three hours to help him cope with leg pain, and anti-sickness tablets to combat the nausea.

One of his kidneys works 20% better than the other one and he also has extremely high blood pressure.

He has recently developed epilepsy and lost all his hair.

On top of all that are the often hidden after-effects of the disease, which can be neurological and psychological in equal measure.

Extra assessments

Yet, despite all of these difficulties, Alex is extremely positive about life. He is determined to be a sports coach and continue playing competitive league wheelchair basketball - and to make sure that no one is treated the way he was at school.

Alex and the Meningitis Trust want automatic assessments to be introduced for every school child who survives meningitis so that the "hidden" problems can be picked up.

Harriet Penning, communications manager at the trust, says these assessments should be independent.

"One assessment won't do it because the problems might not come to light straightaway. We would like four assessments in total so that parents and teachers recognise the problems and can arrange for extra support."

"Children who have had meningitis might look normal but there are other after-effects, like hearing, sight loss and speech problems, which are sometimes hidden."

Twenty thousand children in the education system could be struggling with learning problems because of meningitis, the trust says.

Meningitis is a serious and potentially devastating disease which can occur at any age, although babies, young children and young adults are particularly at risk of bacterial meningitis.

Failing to recognise the brain damage which it can cause at an early stage is another devastating blow young people like Alex do not deserve.

Source: BBC News

read more

Call for parents to vaccinate babies against pneumococcal meningitis - Malaysia

Pneumococcal disease is a silent killer that has claimed the lives of 1.6 million children every year, worldwide.

In fact, the World Health Organisation has said that pneumococcal disease is the number one killer of children under five across the world.

But the sad fact is the disease is preventable with several doses of vaccine.

The question is, is it fair for an adult to expose children to debilitating pain that consequently leads to death, because of their own ignorance?

The complicated disease causes infection to at least one of the protective membranes covering the brain and the spinal cord, otitis media or inner ear infections, and bacterimia or bacteria in the blood.

An infection from any of the 13 Streptococcus Pneumoniae bacterial strains can be fatal, or at least can result in brain damage, blindness or hearing loss.

To date, the medical world has identified 90 sub-types of pneumococcal bacteria.

Why vaccinate?

If a person has been infected by one of the sub-types of bacteria, it doesn't make him immune to other types. Therefore, patients still need to be vaccinated, even if the disease has infected them several times.

Like many bacteria-caused diseases, pneumococcal disease can usually be treated with antibiotics.

However, studies in the last few years have found the bacteria to be resistant to normal antibiotics.

The resistance to antibiotics has made treatment more difficult and resulted in longer hospital stays for patients. This in turn leads to a jump in medical costs.

The best protection against the disease is childhood vaccination with conjugate vaccines that come in 10 valent (PCV10) or 13 valent (PCV13) varieties. The pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine is for adults.

Unfortunately, the pneumococcal vaccine is not so popular among Malaysian children, thus they are continuously threatened with the risk of suffering and death, because of a lack of public awareness of the disease.

Recently, pharmaceutical company Pfizer (Malaysia) held a session with parents whose children had a brush with death from the disease. Several medical experts and the media also attended the session.

Meningitis most serious

Among those present was the President of the Confederation of Meningitis Organisations (CoMo), Bruce Langoulant, from Perth, Australia.

CoMo is a volunteer body formed in 2004 by 33 associations from 22 countries that aims to increase public awareness of meningitis.

It has an excellent reputation for stressing the importance of vaccination, and has succeeded in lobbying the Australian government to fund a vaccination programme through the National Immunisation Programme. It also provides support-group services to families and assists in meningitis research.

According to Langoulant, many CoMo members are parents with experience battling meningitis, some of whom have children who have become disabled because of the disease.

"Bacterial meningitis is the most serious form of meningitis and can lead to infection in the blood (septisemia), which is fatal," he said, explaining Streptococcus pneumonia as the main cause of meningitis and septisemia. Other main causes are the Hemophilus influenza type B and Neisseria meningitides.

Complications

Meningitis can happen suddenly but the symptoms mimic the common cold, such as fever, fatigue and headaches. This makes it difficult for doctors to detect early infection.

Although it is detectable later, even appropriate treatment is given, the death toll is still high. The long-term effects of the disease are serious and include mental and physical disabilities such as hearing loss, epilepsy and brain damage.

"My daughter, Ashleigh, was infected with pneumococcal meningitis when she was six months old," said Langoulant.

"Although it wasn't fatal, Ashleigh experienced a host of health complications following the infection.

"She became blind and deaf, developed cerebral palsy and seizures. Although her sight eventually returned, she will suffer throughout her life.

"Children are supposed to have a universe full of potential but Ashleigh cannot walk or talk, making her dependent on someone else for the rest of her life," said Langoulant.

The treatment and care for such complications are a financial burden for parents, so it is wiser for parents to spend a little on vaccination rather than bear the costs of treating an infected child.

Prevention is better

This is among the reasons why Damansara Specialist Hospital (DSH)Consultant Pediatrician Datuk Dr Musa Mohd Nordin wants pneumococcal vaccination to be made compulsory for Malaysian infants.

"This bacteria has become resistant to antibiotics treatment, so patients have to be held back longer in the hospital, requiring a more complicated course of antibiotics that ultimately cost more than a vaccination."

He said he hoped that the price of the vaccine can be lowered so that more people can bring their babies in for the shots. However, for now, the cost of one dose remains at RM200.

The proposed vaccination for babies is three doses over an interval of time, making the cost of the vaccination RM600 per baby. The appropriate age for the vaccination is between six weeks and nine years old.

"Your baby may have signs of a cold, but as soon as there is difficulty in breathing, you must quickly assume that it is pneumococcal and bring them to the hospital," said Dr Musa.

He also stressed on the important role of parents in disseminating information to the public.

A mother's worst nightmare

Infant death is the worst nightmare for a mother who carris a child in her womb for nine months.

Popular personality Dynaz Mokhtar, who lost her pre-term first child, was ready to go to any lengths to protect the health of her second child.

As soon as she conceived her second child, Dynaz did her best to equip herself with knowledge and become more aware of any health issues of babies.

"I am always discussing the health of my baby with my doctor and have taken all immunizations proposed, including the pneumococcal vaccination," she said.

For a young mother, Zura, watching her then six-month-old son fight for his life against pneumococcal meningitis was mentally, physically and emotionally draining.

"His condition was so severe that he had to be put in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for five days, aside from 10 more days in the children's ward at DSH.

"Over the 15 days he was warded, I was always observing him. I was too afraid to leave his side, even for a second, because I could lose him in that second," she sobbed.

Now, at 11 months, her son's development to be very much slower than his peers, she said.

Zura, who previously knew little about pneumococcal infection, is now part of a support group for parents that encourages friends to get their children vaccinated against the disease.

Further information on the disease and vaccine can be obtained by visiting the website www.abc4pneumoccocal.com.

Source: MY Sinchew.com, Malaysia

read more

Texas law requires new college students to get meningitis vaccine or risk being turned away - USA

They may neglect their studies, their laundry, and the occasional call home. But incoming students at Texas universities had better not forget their shots.

A new state law requires that after Jan. 1, all new college students in the state must receive a bacterial meningitis vaccination. In the past, only students living on campus were required to get the shots.

Students could be turned away from classes and booted from on-campus housing if they can’t prove that they’ve been vaccinated.

At the University of Texas at Arlington, for example, students have been given until Jan. 2 to show that they’ve met the terms of the new law. Spring classes begin on Jan. 17.

“The deadline is pressing,” said Kristin Sullivan, assistant vice president for media relations at the school.

That warning is echoed by Southern Methodist University, the campuses of the Dallas County Community College District, and other North Texas schools.

The Jamie Schanbaum and Nicolis Williams Act, passed by the Legislature earlier this year, requires that a bacterial meningitis vaccine be administered to new college students under 30, transfer students and students who have been away from school for a semester or more. Anyone whose vaccination is more than 5 years old must get a booster.

Meningitis is an inflammation of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. It’s usually caused by a viral or bacterial infection. Bacterial meningitis can be severe, resulting in brain damage, hearing loss or learning disabilities.

“It’s a devastating disease,” said Patrick Hite, executive director of health services at SMU. “Even if you live, you can lose arms and legs and fingers.”

The law is named in honor of two students who were stricken by the disease. Schanbaum, a 20-year-old from the University of Texas, lost her fingers and both legs below the knees after contracting meningitis in 2008. Williams, a 20-year-old from Texas A&M University, died of complications from meningitis in February.

“I thought it was a normal sickness, but it hit too hard, too fast,” Schanbaum said at a news conference Friday organized by Dallas County health officials. “Once it hits, it hits.”

Williams’ father, Greg Williams, said, “The thing that hurts the most is knowing that it could’ve been prevented.”

The law provides for certain exceptions. Students enrolled in “distance-learning” courses don’t have to be vaccinated. Neither do those whose religious beliefs would prohibit the practice. Students can also be exempted if a doctor declares that the vaccine would be harmful to their health.

In general, those most at risk of developing meningitis are babies, young children, young adults, and older adults. Males get it more often than females.

Crowded living conditions — like those in a college dorm — can contribute to the spread of the bacteria that cause meningitis.

Vaccinations are being administered at many pharmacies, physicians’ offices and school health centers.

However, there are limited supplies through the public health system.

There is a state program through which the vaccine is distributed at a reduced rate of $10 per patient. Zachary Thompson, director of Dallas County Health and Human Services, said the department is trying to secure 50,000 doses through that program.

In the meantime, he said, the cost is $150.

“We do have vaccines, we just don’t have them at the reduced cost,” he said.

“The real challenge is providing the vaccine for low-income students.”

Source: The Dallas Morning News, Texas, United States of America

read more

New state law requires meningitis vaccine for all college students - USA

A new state law goes into effect at the first of the year requiring all college students to get the meningitis vaccine before they enter school.

Parents and students need to know that as of Jan. 1, 2012 all first time and transferring college students under the age of 30 have to have written proof they’ve had the meningitis shot.
 
The state legislature has expanded a law that requires college students living in dorms to get the meningitis vaccine. Now everyone enrolling who is under the age of 30 has to prove they’ve had the shot in the last five years. In San Antonio, that’s thosuands of people on 31 campuses.
 
Bacterial meningitis is rare, but it can be debilitating and scary.
 
“It targets healthy young people who congregate together,” explained Dr. Thomas Schlenker, director of health for the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District. “And this is something that, of course, we see on college campuses.
 
Meningitis is transmitted when people exchange saliva. Activities that can increase the risk include kissing or sharing water bottles, eating utensils or cigarettes.
 
Health officials expect a rush for vaccines right before school. That’s why they want to get the word out now. If you’re heading to school or transferring schools, you’ve got a month to follow the law.
 
“We encourage people to visit their primary health care provider to get the vaccine,” said Anna Dragsbaek, president and CEO of The Immunization Partnership. “Do it sooner rather than later. There are no shortages that are expected. But we do expect there to be a rush for the vaccine right before school starts.”
 
The need for protection came into focus here last week. A 20-year-old Trinity University student studying abroad in London died of suspected meningitis.

Source: KENS5, San Antonio

read more

Research study funded in memory of Ryan - United Kingdom

Hundreds of Sheffield students taking part in pioneering medical trials could help to save future generations from the deadly brain bug meningitis.

The ground-breaking study at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital will see students inoculated with friendly bacteria through nasal drops which could stop harmful bacteria living in the nose and throat.

The student volunteers are giving their time to protect others against a disease which particularly affects young people aged 16 to 24.

Professor of Infectious Diseases and Honorary Consultant Physician at Sheffield University, Robert Read, who is leading the study said "We are trying to discover a new way of preventing meningitis by administering friendly bacteria through nasal drops to prevent people catching the unfriendly bacteria.

"This could be an important piece in the jigsaw in the fight against meningitis.

"As a clinician, every time you see another case of meningitis you wish it had been your last.

"Meningitis is often devastating and hits our young, fit people who are otherwise completely well and sometimes leaves them with lasting disabilities."

On Wednesday (November 23), the parents of a 16-year-old sports scholar who lost his life to meningitis visited the study they have funded in his memory.

At 16, Ryan Bresnahan's life ended within an hour of complaining of an upset stomach at his home in Bristol on March 31, 2010.

It was one of the fastest cases of meningitis ever recorded, shattering the lives of the young sport star's family and leaving his friends at college stunned.

His devastated parents John and Michelle Bresnahan, vowed the death of their talented son would not be in vain and set up the 'a LIFE for a CURE' appeal to support Meningitis UK's research work.

After 18 months and tireless fundraising, Mr and Mrs Bresnahan have raised more than £130,000 to fund the entire project.

Mr Bresnahan, saidL "After Ryan died we felt a burning need to do something proactive.

"All we could think was why isn't there a vaccine to stop this terrible disease? Now a year and a half later, we have the opportunity to gain a real understanding of the work first hand and to meet Professor Read and his colleagues, but also to see our tireless fundraising efforts turned into pioneering research.

"We know Ryan would be extremely proud of everyone's achievements."

Mrs Bresnahan added, "We are so grateful to the generous students of Sheffield for giving their time to this study which could play an important part in saving the lives of future students like Ryan - who are full of promise and deserve the right to live a full and healthy life."

They  unveiled a plaque at the hospital's Clinical Research Facility to commemorate the start of the project being made possible in their son's name.

Kate Rowland, head of development at Meningitis UK, said: "Meningitis and associated diseases strike with incredible speed and are notoriously difficult to diagnose which is why we feel strongly that putting a stop to the disease through prevention is the only way to save lives.

"This ground-breaking study could make a huge difference to the protection of this vulnerable age group from meningitis and the devastation it causes in the future."

For more information or to donate to 'a LIFE for a CURE' visit: www.ryanbresnahan.co.uk

To find out about Meningitis UK's Search 4 a Vaccine Campaign, visit: www.meningitisuk.org.

read more

CoMO President visits Kuala Lumpur to encourage advocacy and pledge support for the pneumococcal vaccine in Malaysia

On Wednesday 9 November 2011 Confederation of Meningitis Organisations (CoMO) President and Asia Pacific Regional Leader Bruce Langoulant visited Kuala Lumpur to lead an Advocacy Workshop with local parents and representatives from various not for profit organisations who are eager to increase awareness of pneumococcal meningitis and the pneumococcal vaccine in Malaysia.

Pneumococcal disease is what causes pneumococcal meningitis. It also is the cause of pneumonia, bacteraemia/septicaemia (bacterial infection of the blood) and otitis media (middle ear infection). In today’s world pneumococcal disease is preventable through vaccination however continues to be the leading cause of childhood morbidity and mortality worldwide.

During the advocacy workshop some of the parents shared their personal stories of how pneumococcal meningitis impacted their family and collectively discussed opportunities to raise awareness of the disease and the pneumococcal vaccine available to prevent it.

“The emotions and stories shared during the workshop were consistent with the meningitis stories you hear from all corners of the world. People shared similar accounts of their experience with the pneumococcal disease and reinforced that there is a lack of community awareness of meningitis and the possible devastating affects it may have including deafness, severe disabilities and possibly the loss of life,” said Bruce.

“We all agreed at the end of the workshop that we would work together over the next six to 12 months to understand the burden of pneumococcal disease in Malaysia, currently an unreported disease in the country, and raise awareness of pneumococcal meningitis across the country.

“There are too many cases of pneumococcal disease and meningitis in the Asia Pacific Region and they can be prevented with vaccination. Our recent visit to Kuala Lumpur is an indication of the support CoMO can offer to foster and establish patient groups in other parts of the Asia Pacific Region and around the world to reduce and hopefully one day eliminate the burden of this disease. Malaysia is just the first step,” said Bruce.

Pledge to have the pneumococcal vaccine on the National Immunisation Programme in Malaysia

During the Kuala Lumpur visit CoMO also lent its support to World Pneumonia Day and the launch of a new website – www.abc4pneumococcal.com – that aims to build awareness of pneumococcal disease and the pneumococcal vaccine.

The Asian Strategic Alliance for Pneumococcal Disease Prevention (ASAP), Pitter Patter, parenting2u.com, SJ Echo and Pfizer (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd launched the website that is rich in information about the disease and explains how parents can protect their children against infection. The site encourages parents and like-minded individuals to sign the online pledge to support a call for the pneumococcal vaccine to be included as part of the National Immunisation Programme in Malaysia.

Dato’ Dr Musa Mohd Nordin, co-founding member of ASAP and Consulting Paediatrician at Damansara Specialist Hospital said more than half of pneumococcal disease incidences and deaths occur in Asia alone.

“It’s important that we educate parents and the general public on protecting our children from Pneumococcal Disease. The consequences of this disease are dire yet are completely avoidable. Effective prevention methods need to be available to all children of Malaysia,” said Dato' Dr Musa Mohd Nordin.

CoMO President and Asia Pacific Regional Leader Bruce Langoulant added that we should never underestimate the strength of our voice when advocating for a safe and healthy community.

“By signing this pledge, parents have the opportunity to lend their voice to this cause and be a mobilising force towards better healthcare for all children in Malaysia,” said Bruce.

More information

For more information about any details in this article please contact the CoMO Secretariat on +61 8 9489 7789 or email info@comoonline.org.

read more

New research reveals the true impact of meningitis, Meningitis Trust, United Kingdom

New research has revealed that children who survive meningococcal disease (a type of meningitis) are:

The shocking findings have prompted the Meningitis Trust to launch a campaign to fight for the rights of the forgotten children who are currently suffering with the impact of the disease in the UK right now.

The ‘Meningitis Changes Futures’ campaign is calling for automatic assessments and appropriate educational support to become routine for every child who survives meningitis.
   
1 in 4 who survive will suffer some form of long-term after-effect. Many children may appear to have made a full recovery but are often left with psychological and neurological problems that may go unrecognised, as revealed by the research. These children can be left struggling at school and deprived of the educational support they need.

Sue Davie, Chief Executive of the Meningitis Trust, said: “Parents who have had to watch their child fight for their life when meningitis has struck now have to fight for their child to get the best chance in life.  Recognition of the needs of these children should be a right, not a lottery”.

Alex, 18, was bullied, rejected and taunted because he was different. As well as the physical after-effects, meningitis left its mark on his education. After months in hospital, he returned to school where he struggled to keep up. Teachers thought he was hard work in the class and would often ask other pupils to do the writing for him. 

He was promised support, this didn’t happen. The teachers were told they had to write down homework for Alex as the damaged caused by meningitis meant he could no longer remember what they told him. They hardly ever did this.

He was diagnosed as depressed and as a result his education was lost to meningitis. It’s too late for Alex, but the Trust is determined through its ‘Meningitis Changes Futures’ campaign that it will fight for every child affected so they aren’t forgotten as well.

Read more about Alex's story here.

People are being urged to sign the Meningitis Trust education petition today at www.meningitischangesfutures.co.uk.

About the MOSAIC* research project

In 2008, the Meningitis Trust commissioned a research project to investigate the true impact of meningococcal group B disease in children under 16 years. The study was undertaken by University College London/Institute of Child Health and is awaiting publication. This study (MOSAIC) aimed to measure the physical, psychological, social and economic burden of the disease. It has provided data that we can use to influence the care that children and their families receive following their experience of meningitis. The data has been used to support the introduction of future meningococcal group B vaccines.

The findings of the study have confirmed that meningococcal group B disease is associated with significant burden in survivors and their families. The following points highlight the need for regular follow-up and assessment of any child who has had this disease:

• IQ - test score significantly reduced.
• Memory - significant deficits in many aspects of memory.
• Executive function - significantly poorer, resulting in reduced ability to organise and plan ahead.
• Mental health disorder - four times more likely
• Special Educational Needs (SEN) - significantly more likely to need additional educational support

More information

For more information about the Meningitis Trust and the Meningitis Changes Futures campaign visit the Meningitis Trust website.

read more

Working Together to Raise the Patient Voice in the Western Pacific and South-East Asia

"The people have the right and duty to participate individually and collectively in the planning and implementation of their healthcare." Alma Ata Declaration – Principle IV (1978, WHO) Is this a reality in Asia Pacific? Are those most affected by healthcare decisions involved in taking them? If not, how can we improve collaboration between all stakeholders to ensure access to quality healthcare that meets the needs of patients?

To address these questions and debate solutions the International Alliance of Patients' Organizations (IAPO) will hold a series of meetings and events in coordination with the World Health Organization (WHO), including a multi-stakeholder seminar, to promote discussion and collaboration between patient groups, health officials, policy-makers and health professionals among others. IAPO is pleased to also have the local support of the Philippine Alliance of Patient Organizations (PAPO).

On the 13 and 14 October the Confederation of Meningitis Organisations (CoMO) will join IAPO and a large group of strong patient advocacy groups from across Asia-Pacific at a one and a half day patient group workshop entitled 'Partnership and collaboration: working together to raise the patient voice in the Western Pacific and South-East Asia regions'. The workshop participants will include representatives from IAPO's member organizations in the Western Pacific and South-East Asia regions. In addition, non-member patient groups in the Western Pacific and South-East Asia will also attend.

On the afternoon of 13 October, the Assistant Secretary of State for Health in the Philippines Dr Paulyn Jean B Rosell-Ubial and Leonila M. Ocampo, RPh, MS, President of the Philippine Pharmacists Association, Inc will speak, alongside other stakeholders, during IAPO's multi-stakeholder seminar entitled 'Building cross-sector partnerships to meet patients' needs in Asia-Pacific'. The seminar will bring together key healthcare stakeholders from the Philippines as well as regional and international participants to debate and discuss patient-centred healthcare and patient involvement.

Long standing CoMO member representative for the Philippine Foundation for Vaccination Professor Lulu Bravo will be represent CoMO at these workshops. Professor Bravo is the Professor of Pediatric Infectious and Tropical Diseases at the University of the Philippines Manila and also Vice Chancellor for Research and Executive Director at the National Institutes of Health.

During the meeting participants will explore the current status of Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) and patient safety globally, discuss the outcomes and relevance of global initiatives such as the High-level Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on NCDs for patients in Asia-Pacific and share ideas to ensure patient safety. The aim is to consider how all stakeholders can work in cross-sector partnerships towards patient-centred healthcare. The seminar will be followed by a reception which will enable delegates to continue to discuss the issues in the regions and forge new cross-sector relationships.

read more

Sign the Petition for Counting the Cost Campaign - United Kingdom

read more

Vigilant parents prevent meningococcal tragedy - New Zealand

A five-year-old child has been admitted to Whangarei Hospital with meningococcal disease, the tenth case of the deadly disease in the region since July.

The Whangarei child was admitted to the hospital on the evening of October 7 and is in a stable condition, Northland medical officer of health Clair Mill said.

Dr Mills said this is the tenth case in Northland since July and she is waiting to hear from the national laboratory whether it is a Group C (as in the majority of cases this year in Northland) or another type of meningococcal disease.

"It was fortunate the parents knew about meningococcal disease and they sought medical attention immediately. The disease can be rapidly life-threatening. The child was admitted to a ward and is doing well," she said.

"Northland DHB's public health unit has identified close contacts of the child but it again appears there are no obvious linkage between this and previous meningococcal cases."

"We have contacted family and people who have had close contact with the child during the last week when the child was infectious - sharing food and drink, playing and sleeping in the same house with the child. They have been offered advice and preventative treatment," said Dr Mills.

Northland currently has an outbreak of Group C Meningococcal disease. Since July there have been seven cases of Meningococcal disease caused by Group C bacteria in Northland, including three deaths.

The DHB is carrying out a mass vaccination programme aimed at inoculating up to 40,000 Northlanders aged from 1 to 20 against meningococcal C, and has so far given out more than 4000 jabs.

Source: New Zealand Herald

read more

CoMO Global Conference in Paris - Friday 30 September to Sunday 2 October 2011

CoMO members from around the world will unite in Paris this weekend for the 5th CoMO Global Conference that will be held from Friday 30 September to Sunday 2 October 2011.

In 2011 the biannual CoMO Global Conference will be held in Paris to coincide with National Meningitis Day in France on Saturday 1 October. This year 41 representatives from 23 meningitis organisations and 17 countries around the world will attend, making this our biggest conference yet.

Attendees will include representatives from CoMO member organisations in Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, Poland, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the USA.  

The global conference is an opportunity for CoMO members around the world to come together to share experiences and ideas, discuss the current situation of meningitis globally and gain new skills that will help them raise awareness of meningitis in their country.

Read more about our members and how you or your organisation can become a member of CoMO on our website.

If you would like any further information please contact us by emailing info@comoonline.org.

read more

Counting the Cost of Meningitis Calls for a Men B Vaccine - United Kingdom

Meningitis Awareness Week (19-25th September) sees the launch of an online video to support MRF’s Counting the Cost of Meningitis campaign and builds support for vaccination against meningitis and septicaemia. (http://www.meningitis.org/sign)

The shocking lifelong financial costs of surviving meningitis and septicaemia have been examined by Meningitis Research Foundation (MRF) in their ‘Counting the Cost of Meningitis’ campaign. Prevention is more cost effective than treatment; therefore MRF is calling on the Government to pursue the widest and earliest implementation of vaccines to prevent the diseases.

Counting the Cost of Meningitis is a comprehensive analysis of the lifetime impact of the diseases illustrated through two fictional case studies:

• Peter, who was 18 months old when he was struck down with septicaemia which left him with multiple amputations and behavioural difficulties. Total lifelong costs of supporting Peter up to age 70 are £2,833,374.
• Emma, who was three years old when she became ill with meningitis which left her brain damaged, deaf and partially blind. Total lifelong costs of supporting Emma up to age 50 are £3,507,664.

These illnesses have far-reaching consequences with survivors facing an on-going need for specialist medical care as well as additional educational and financial support running into millions of pounds.

Christopher Head, Chief Executive of MRF said: “’Counting the Cost of Meningitis’ shows how those who survive can struggle to come to terms with the impact of these horrific diseases which change lives forever. Our campaign makes practical recommendations to Government to reduce the burden of disease through vaccination in the UK. Vaccination provides peace of mind across the country and we are urging everyone across the UK to sign our online petition at http://www.meningitis.org/sign.”

Meningitis Awareness Week (19-25th September) sees the launch of an online video to support MRF’s Counting the Cost of Meningitis campaign and builds support for vaccination against meningitis and septicaemia. (http://www.meningitis.org/sign)

Source: The Meningitis Research Foundation, United Kingdom

read more

Mass vaccination plan to stop meningococcal outbreak - New Zealand

Health officials hope a mass vaccination programme aimed at 44,000 people aged between 1 and 20 will prevent the spread of the deadly meningococcal C disease in Northland after two deaths in the past month.

Two Northlanders have died from meningococcal C disease - 1-year-old Jacob Whyte from Ruakaka and Ben Brown, from Whangarei - and four other people have been confirmed as having type C while two others had type B meningococcal.

Northland medical officer of health Clair Mills said the situation was now a community outbreak and the concern over the spread of the disease, and random nature - there are no known links between any of the cases - had prompted the mass vaccination campaign.

Dr Mills said the programme would target the highest risk group of those aged between 1 and 20, with the most at risk - high school children - the first to receive the free meningococcal C vaccination.

Those out-of-school-aged under 20 will be able to get the vaccine from their GP, or attend special clinics in their area, as soon as vaccine becomes available.

The DHB will liaise with community groups, employers and tertiary institutions to get to that group.

"Initially, the programme will be offered to high school students in the highest risk areas progressively over the two weeks from September 26," Dr Mills said.

"With exams coming up it's important to get that group vaccinated before the exam season starts."

The first schools involved are Kamo High, Bream Bay College, Whangarei Boys' and Girls' High, Whangaroa College, Kerikeri High, Springbank, Northland College, Te Kura Kaupapa O Kaikohe, Okaihau College, Bay of Islands College, Taipa Area School, and Kaikohe Christian School.

Dr Mills said there are usually between 0-2 cases of type C per year in Northland, while in previous years meningococcal type B disease was the most common type in the region.

"The current situation is, therefore, consistent with a community outbreak. Following expert advice and in consultation with the Ministry of Health we have decided to launch a vaccination campaign to help control this outbreak and prevent more cases of disease," she said.

The DHB hoped to vaccinate about 35,000 of those in the 1-20 age group before December 16 and was optimistic it would reach this target. Dr Mills said the disease was serious and had major health implications and she did not think there would be widespread opposition to the vaccination campaign.

The DHB would not say how much the vaccination campaign would cost, or who was paying for it - the DHB or the Ministry of Health - with discussions between the two organisations over that issue ongoing.

Those outside the targeted age group could buy type C vaccinations from their doctor, but the immunisation campaign is likely to take up most of the country's available stock. Once new stock arrives from October 6 the campaign is expected to be offered to primary schools from the beginning of November.

"Vaccination offered through a school-based programme is the most effective way of ensuring that as many students as possible are protected against the disease," Dr Mills said.

The vaccination campaign will be launched with extensive media advertising, public relations, a poster campaign and widespread communication with schools, parents and caregivers, students, and health professionals in Northland.

Source: New Zealand Herald, New Zealand

read more

Solicitor advises public to challenge doctors to prevent misdiagnosis of meningitis - United Kingdom

As the university year starts again, Philippa Luscombe, clinical negligence partner at Penningtons Solicitors LLP, urges people not only to be alert to the symptoms of meningitis but also to challenge doctors who say that they or their children are 'too well' to have meningitis. Leading clinical negligence solicitor advises public to challenge doctors to prevent misdiagnosis of meningitis.

Meningitis Research Foundation (MRF), the charity behind Meningitis Awareness Week (19-25 September 2011), continues its programme of public awareness of the signs and symptoms of meningitis. A main focus is the higher proportion of young people – particularly university students - who contract meningitis, particularly at this time of year.

While still a comparatively rare condition, the consequences of meningitis can be devastating if it is not correctly diagnosed and treated early. Viral meningitis is generally not life threatening but bacterial meningitis (which represents most UK cases) is very serious.

MRF statistics indicate approximately 3,300 cases of bacterial meningitis each year in the UK and one in ten people who contract meningitis do not survive. Of those who survive, approximately one in four are left with permanent disability. Quick diagnosis and correct treatment are vital for survival and a full recovery, hence the need for public awareness.

As specialist clinical negligence solicitors, we are frequently approached by people with concerns about delays in the diagnosis of meningitis – particularly in children. While we only see a snapshot of medical care across the country, our perception is that there has been an increase in the number of cases where the diagnosis has been missed or delayed and a common theme (particularly in children) is that the individual is said by the doctors to be 'too well' to have meningitis.

The difficulty is that the early signs - fever, vomiting and headache - can be hard to recognise and are often just typical symptoms of being 'unwell'. However, the key to a good outcome is to be open to the possibility of meningitis and to be ready to act if the symptoms progress. Other symptoms signs such as rash, joint pain, dislike of bright lights and a stiff neck are more specific and should never be ignored.

Increased public awareness of warning signs and symptoms is critical and patients, particularly parents, must feel confident of expressing their concerns about meningitis. If they are told by doctors that it is not likely, they must ask for a proper explanation and, crucially, for advice as to what signs should mean the need to urgently seek further medical advice. Meningitis can often be hard to detect early but patients who are sent away often delay in coming back for further advice, not appreciating the significance of further symptoms. We believe that medical professionals should focus on giving potential sufferers this guidance.

Source: Penningtons Solicitors LLP

read more

Investigational vaccine for WA's meningococcal threat - Australia

Perth researchers have begun a clinical trial of an investigational Meningococcal B vaccine against the most common form of meningococcal disease in Western Australia.

Adolescents aged between 11 and 17 years inclusive are being asked to volunteer for the research project, undertaken by the Vaccine Trials Group at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research and Princess Margaret Hospital for Children in collaboration with the UWA School of Paediatrics and Child Health.

Study leader Dr Peter Richmond said there is no vaccine available currently to prevent the Meningococcal B strain of the bacteria that accounts for more than 90 per cent of cases in WA.

“Meningococcal B infections can cause meningitis and blood poisoning and can progress very quickly with devastating effects,” Dr Richmond said.

“This is the last major cause of meningitis for which we don’t have a vaccine and the one that most affects West Australians.”

“Meningococcal rates are higher in adolescents and very young children, so it’s very important that we ensure that this vaccine is safe and effective in children.”

This will be a comparative study of two Meningococcal B vaccines manufactured at two different sites.

The investigational meningococcal B vaccine is being studied in a number of centres, in Australia and internationally.

Source: Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, Australia

read more

Meningococcal spate hits Northland - New Zealand

A spate of meningococcal cases in Northland has health authorities on the verge of declaring an outbreak, as an eighth person is admitted to hospital with symptoms of the disease.

Seven people have contracted meningococcal disease in the region, with two deaths during the past two months.

Northland Medical Officer of Health Claire Mills said there was no clear link among any of the recent cases.

A 14-month old from the Far North admitted to Whangarei hospital last weekend was the latest confirmed case.

The child was now in a stable condition.

However a 15-year-old boy, also from the Far North, was admitted to intensive care on Wednesday with symptoms of meningococcal disease, and may prove to be the eighth case.

At this stage, staff did not know what type of meningococcal disease the most recent cases were, she said.

"[The cases] appear to be sporadic, rather than a cluster. A cluster is when you would see a group of close contacts linked to a common source."

Mills said the number of cases and tragic deaths was very concerning.

An 18-year-old man died in of the disease in the Whangarei District Hospital's intensive care unit last Saturday, four days after being admitted.

Seven days previously, a 14-month-old boy from Ruakaka died at Starship Hospital in August.

Mills said staff were following up with contacts of the two latest admissions, offering advice, antibiotics and vaccination.

"We are working hard to prevent more cases," she said.

"We are also reminding GPs about the importance of diagnosing and treating meningococcal disease early."

"We are getting a number of inquiries about meningococcal C vaccine from members of the public. Please discuss this with your doctor if you have questions about vaccination. There are different types of meningococcal disease, not all of which have a vaccine available."

"We are also working closely with the Ministry of Health and seeking expert advice on what additional steps we can take to prevent further cases."

Meningococcal disease was a bacterial infection. Symptoms in babies and young children may include fever, irritability, sleepiness, floppiness, being hard to wake, refusing drink or food, vomiting and a rash.

Adults could have similar symptoms and may also have a stiff neck, headache and sensitivity to lights.

Early treatment with antibiotics was important, and could prevent death or permanent disability such as damage to the brain or deafness.

Source: The Press, New Zealand

read more

Killer disease misdiagnosis 'common' - New Zealand

Misdiagnosis of meningococcal disease is common as there are so many possible symptoms, the head of The Meningitis Foundation Aotearoa New Zealand says.

Ben Brown, 18, an apprentice plumber, died from the infection at Whangarei Hospital on Saturday - just days after he was admitted to the intensive care unit.

His death came a week after a 14-month-old Northland toddler died at Starship Hospital of the disease.

The teenager's father, Darren Brown, has asked the coroner to investigate why his son had been sent home twice by medical professionals in the days leading up to his death.

Founding co-director of The Meningitis Foundation Aotearoa New Zealand Paul Gilberd said unfortunately cases of patients being sent home from hospital is common, as meningococcal disease is hard to diagnose.

"It presents in just so many different ways.

"It is very hard to train clinical staff effectively in all of the signs because it just presents in so many different ways.

"You can get a stiff neck, you can get a headache, a fever, you could be vomiting, light sensitivity, drowsiness or confusion, joint pain, you could be fitting, and any one of those things could be on its own or with others and it is very hard for clinical staff, sometimes even right up to the late dangerous stages.

"Sometimes, people make mistakes, misdiagnose and send people home. They do everything can, but it is just a very nasty disease. If you know something is amiss [but the hospital wants to discharge you] you've got to be firm about it, because it can be life or death."

Mr Gilberd said it was vital people seek medical attention as soon as possible, even though the symptoms on their own can appear minor.

"It can present like flu. That's the nature of this disease, it is a very nasty and very dangerous disease," he said.

"What you learn about meningitis is the speed people deteriorate - that's the real feature."

"What we always say to people is see your GP immediately. If your GP is not immediately available, see another doctor or go straight to hospital emergency centre."

Mr Gilberd said young people and Maori and Pacific Islanders are most at risk, however it is indiscriminate.

"The problem is the actual infection lives in the backs of the throats of about 15 per cent of the population at any one time. So it is very hard to know where it is going to pop up," he said.

"We all need to be vigilant, because it is in us. The chances are you walked past 10 people on the street this morning who have got meningitis in the back of their throat. If they just happen to sneeze and you just happen have a weak immune system it can be as simple as that."

While there are many precautions people can take - not sharing bottles, covering your mouth while coughing and sneezing, not sharing body fluids - but vaccination is the most effective precaution, Mr Gilberd said.

"The ultimate way to protect yourself from this disease is to get a vaccination. If you are worried about it go and get a jab, because there are very effective vaccinations available in New Zealand to prevent people getting the main 13 serotypes [of meningitis].

"There's an extreme amount of empirical evidence to show that immunising through vaccination is the most effective way of managing this disease."

The foundation, which was formed this year, does not yet have a website, but Mr Gilberd recommended people visit meningitis.com.au for more information.

Source: NZ Herald

read more

Watch an interview with Co-director of the Meningitis Foundation New Zealand Paul Gilberd today!

Co-director of the Meningitis Foundation New Zealand Paul Gilberd shared valuable information about meningitis in NZ, its signs and symptoms and the importance of working with doctors when you know you're not well in a recent interview with 3 News, New Zealand.

View the interview now!

read more

Be alert for symptoms of meningitis - United Kingdom

A Thornbury based charity is urging people to be aware of symptoms of meningitis even in summer months.

The national Meningitis Research Foundation (MRF) is warning the public that meningitis can strike at any time of the year.

The charity said many people believe meningitis and septicaemia – the blood poisoning form of the disease – can only be contracted during the winter months, when people are more susceptible to illness. But the diseases can strike anyone, of any age, at any time.

MRF is encouraging people to familiarise themselves with information and advice on how to spot symptoms as cases of viral meningitis are known to peak during periods of hot weather.

While viral meningitis is almost never life threatening it is very unpleasant and can have long-lasting after-effects.

Both meningitis and septicaemia can be hard to recognise at first and symptoms can appear in any order, however shared symptoms are usually fever, vomiting, headache and feeling unwell, just like in many other illnesses.

Serious symptoms of meningitis can include a rash (which is not present in all cases) – neck stiffness, dislike of bright lights, seizures and being very sleepy or difficult to wake. Signs of septicaemia to be aware of include pale or mottled skin, cold hands and feet, and muscle pain.

The consequences of meningitis can be devastating with one in ten dying while around a quarter of survivors can be left with life altering after effects such as brain damage, limb loss and hearing loss.

Christopher Head, Meningitis Research Foundation chief executive, said: " Don't be complacent during the summer months, knowing the symptoms and acting fast can save lives."

read more

New Immunisation Schedule launched - New Zealand

Children will get more protection from pneumococcal disease with the launch today of the new childhood Immunisation Schedule.

The schedule is the series of free immunisations offered to all babies and children in New Zealand. It is updated every three years to include new and improved vaccines that protect against 11 preventable diseases.

From today, premature babies and children with medical conditions that put them at high risk of becoming seriously ill with pneumococcal disease will be offered a vaccine that provides protection against 13 instead of 7 strains.

All other New Zealand children will be offered a pneumococcal vaccine that protects against 10 instead of 7 strains from later this year, once supplies of the existing vaccine run out.

Babies and young children with pneumococcal disease can get very sick with ear infections, pneumonia or meningitis. Some die.

Disease rates in the under-twos have halved since a pneumococcal vaccine was first added to New Zealand's Immunisation Schedule in 2008.

Read the full article now

Source: NZ Doctor - New Zealand

read more

Newly Government funded vaccine offers increased pneumococcal disease coverage for New Zealand children - New Zealand

A newly Government funded pneumococcal vaccine called Synflorix will be rolled out across
doctors’ surgeries from 1 July providing increased coverage of pneumococcal disease for New
Zealand children. 

Synflorix replaces an older vaccine on the National Immunisation Schedule and will be
offered to all children at the current paediatric immunisation schedule timelines, six weeks
and three, five and 15 months of age. 

Fully funded, Synflorix offers increased disease coverage of potentially fatal diseases such
as meningitis (an infection of the spinal cord and brain lining), sepsis (a form of blood
poisoning) and pneumonia caused by common pneumococcal bacteria. 

Prior to pneumococcal vaccine implementation in June 2008 almost 5,000 New Zealand
children under the age of five years were admitted to hospital each year with pneumococcal
disease. 

In addition to immunising children against severe pneumococcal disease, sepsis and
meningitis, Synflorix is designed to target the two leading causes of bacterial ear infections.


Studies have shown that ear infections can occur in up to 83 percent of children by the age
of three, resulting in approx 83,000 visits to GPs and 5,000 hospital admissions each year in
New Zealand. 

Ear infections disproportionately affect Maori and Pacific Island children. As a consequence
10 percent of Maori and 11 percent of Pacific Island children fail hearing checks when
starting school at five years of age compared with only four percent of NZ European
children. Studies have also shown that persistent ear disease in childhood may contribute to
poor hearing and antisocial behaviour later in life. 

 For more information on Synflorix parents can talk to their practice nurse or family doctor or
phone the Immunisation Advisory Centre (IMAC) toll free on 0800 IMMUNE (0800 466 863).
Information is also available on the IMAC website at www.immune.org.nz and the Ministry of
Health website at www.moh.govt.nz/immunisation.

Source: Info News - New Zealand

read more

Protecting our child against deadly meningococcal disease - View this video podcast

In honour of World Meningitis Day 2011 the Saving a Life video podcast was produced to raise awareness of meningococcal disease, a leading cause of bacterial meningitis, and to illustrate how this devastating disease can effect lives.

In this video podcast you will hear from the Confederation of Meningitis Organisation's (CoMO) President Bruce Langoulant, medical experts, survivors and parents from around the world who have been touched by this disease and who express the importance of vaccination.

View the video podcast now!

This video podcast is also available in languages other than English: Czech (Čeština), French (français), German (Deutsch), Italian (Italiano), Portuguese (português), Spanish (español) and Turkish (Türkçe).

read more

Meningitis cases dramatically down - West Africa

The roll-out of a revolutionary meningitis vaccination in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger has dramatically cut transmission rates, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), and if each country can find sufficient funds to co-finance the campaign, it will be extended to all 25 countries in the Africa meningitis belt by 2016, says the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI).

In the 2010-2011 meningitis season, Burkina Faso has confirmed just four cases of meningitis A; Niger has reported four cases; and Mali none, according to WHO.

While in Burkina Faso everyone in the 1-29 age group was vaccinated – representing 70 percent of the population – Mali and Niger are doing phased roll-outs over a longer period.

Group A meningitis causes deadly epidemics every 8-10 years in the Africa meningitis belt, where 430 million people are said to be at risk, according to WHO. Meningitis is an infection of the brain lining that kills up to 10 percent of people who contract it.

Residents of Burkina Faso capital Ouagadougou told IRIN they were surprised by the results. “Even though we were vaccinating our children we did not believe it would be this effective,” said Alexis Kabore, whose daughter contracted meningitis in 2004, leaving her paralyzed. “We have not heard the same [mourning] cries that we are used to hearing during the meningitis season,” he said.

Read the full story now!

Source: African Press International

read more

School nurses organisation educates parents of preteens and teens about meningitis and the importance of vaccination - United States of America

The School Nurses Organization of Washington (SNOW) has joined with the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) and the Immunization Action Coalition of Washington (IACW) on the Seattle Voices of Meningitis campaign to help educate parents of preteens and teens about the dangers of meningitis and importance of vaccination.  Meningococcal disease is a rare, but serious bacterial infection that can cause meningitis and kill an otherwise healthy young person in just a single day.

In Washington, nearly half of adolescents have not been vaccinated against meningococcal disease, far below the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) goal of an 80 percent vaccination rate.  In the United States, about 10 percent of the 1,000 to 2,600 Americans who get meningococcal disease each year will die.  For survivors, one in five is left with serious medical problems, such as amputation of limbs, brain damage, deafness and organ damage.

"Although vaccination rates have improved, too many adolescents still have not been immunized, leaving them at risk for this often devastating disease," said Lynne Grubb, school nurse, Lake Stevens School District, and member, SNOW.  "We, the 'voices' of meningitis, are calling on all Seattle parents to vaccinate their children and 'Pass the Voice' to anyone who will listen.  We owe it to our children to help protect them from potentially harmful diseases."

Preteens and teens are at greater risk for meningitis and public health officials recommend meningococcal vaccination.   Activities common among Seattle area adolescents, such as kissing, spending long periods of time with large groups and sharing water bottles or drinking glasses can increase their risk for contracting the disease.

Every health-care visit is an opportunity to discuss meningococcal vaccination.  Vaccination has been available for years and is a safe and effective way to help prevent meningitis, according to Grubb.  

Read the complete article now

Source: NBC 29 - United States of America

read more

Meningitis vaccine suggested for at-risk babies - United States of America

A vaccine against meningococcal disease, which is a life-threatening bacterial infection, should be given to some infants as young as 9 months old, an advisory panel for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday.

The recommendation applies only to infants who are at high risk of contracting the disease, the panel said. These include infants who travel to or live in countries outside the United States where the disease is common, and those who have certain immune deficiencies.

This group is small — just a few thousand children in the United States, said Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

"The recommendation is "aimed at protecting a handful of high-risk children," Schaffner said.

Read the complete article to find out more

Source: MSNBC - United States of America

read more

Meningitis B: 'I'm still the same inside' - United Kingdom

My mother still blames herself for not realising I was seriously ill when I came home from work that Friday night. I only vaguely remember it, but I know my symptoms weren't drastic enough to have alarmed anyone. I had been working behind the bar at a pub and suddenly started to feel very unwell. I was sick in the same way as if I had the flu or food poisoning. I drove myself home – I lived with my parents – and got into bed, thinking I would sleep it off. I don't remember the drive at all. I don't remember much from that week.

I have horses, so I was always up early to go see them and muck out. That morning, I wasn't. Mum came to check if I was all right, saw the characteristic rash on my arms and knew immediately that I had meningitis.

My parents took me to a local minor-injuries unit, where the ambulance met us. I was very lucky that there was a doctor there who knew to start getting me treated on the right antibiotics before I even got to accident and emergency. I spent 20 minutes in cardiac arrest, which could easily have led to brain damage.

I can't begin to imagine how worried my family must have been. I feel as if I knew what was happening because I've been told about it so many times – but I had no idea. Once I was over the cardiac-arrest stage, I was put in an induced coma for about three weeks to help my brain heal.

All my parents could do was sit and wait for my body to respond to the treatment. For a long time they lived in limbo, just waiting, not knowing if I would survive or which parts of my body would survive.

Continue reading this story now

Source: The Inderpendent

read more

Childhood diseases return as parents refuse vaccines - United States of America

Health care providers report the biggest outbreak of measles they have seen in more than a decade.

Doctors diagnosed 152 cases so far this year.

Experts met in Overland Park Friday to debunk the most common vaccine myths.

Maggi Pivovar, a survivor of a vaccine preventable disease shared her life-changing story.

“In 2007 I woke up with what I thought was the flu. It was not the flu. It was a deadly bacterial illness called meningococcal meningitis,” she said.

Pivovar’s family rushed her to the emergency room where doctors delivered horrible news.

"I was given a 2 percent chance to survive and I had a very high risk of disability including blindness and deafness.”

Maggi Pivovar lived but doctors amputated her legs.

They told her the illness she suffered was preventable if she had vaccinated herself against it.

"I never knew that I needed to get this vaccine. I did not know this vaccine could save my life,” said Pivovar.

Hear from meningococcal meningitis survivor Maggi Pivovar in a video that continues this report.

Source: NBC Action News

read more

New Law Protects College Students from Meningitis - United States of America

Whether they live in a dorm or off campus, new college students must now be vaccinated against bacterial meningitis.

Senate Bill 1107, signed into law by Gov. Rick Perry last month, toughens the state's existing law that requires only students living in on-campus dormitories to be immunized against meningitis.

"This is a giant step in ensuring our campuses are safe for all students," said Anna Dragsbaek, president and CEO of The Immunization Partnership, a nonprofit organization that aims to eradicate vaccine preventable diseases.

Meningococcal disease, commonly known as bacterial meningitis, is highly contagious and spreads through coughing and sneezing, sharing drinks or utensils, and kissing or other person-to-person contact. The bacteria cause inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord, and can also infect the blood.

Once inside the body, the disease spreads with frightening speed.

Otherwise healthy students can end up in a hospital intensive care unit with severe bloodstream infection within a matter of hours. Those who recover may lose fingers, toes, arms and legs due to bloodstream infection, be left blind or deaf, or suffer brain or kidney damage.

Symptoms include fever, severe headache, a stiff neck, and often nausea, vomiting and mental awareness changes, as well as a red or purple spotty rash.

"The disease often gets a head-start in the body because people associate early symptoms with the common flu, and don't immediately consult a physician," said Mary Healy, M.D., director of vaccinology at Texas Children's Hospital's Center for Vaccine Awareness and Research.

By the time medical care is sought, Healy said, the disease has spread so quickly that about 10 percent of sufferers die from it, often within hours of the onset of symptoms.\

Jamie Schanbaum contracted meningitis in 2008 during her sophomore year at The University of Texas at Austin.

"One night within just a few hours I went from feeling a little bit sick to not being able to get up off the bathroom floor," she said. "I called my sister to help me, and she got me to a hospital."

Doctors said Jamie was within hours of death when she arrived in the emergency room. She survived and returned to her studies, but lost her legs and most of her fingers due to meningitis.

In 2009, the state legislature passed the Jamie Schanbaum Act, requiring new or transfer students planning to live on campus to get a meningitis vaccine.

But this newest bill passed last month protects off-campus students as well. The bill applies to new students entering college on or after Jan. 1, 2012, who have never enrolled or have been out of school for a semester or longer.

Nicolis Williams, a Texas A&M University student who died suddenly of meningitis this February, is the bill's inspiration. Because he lived off campus, Texas law did not require Nicolis to be vaccinated against meningitis.

"There was a gap in the law that needed to be closed," said Nicolis' father, Greg Williams. "The law only required immunization for on-campus students, but at large universities where housing is in demand, many students live off campus."

The day his son died, Williams picked up the phone and began calling state legislators to urge passage of a law to protect not only on-campus, but also off-campus students.

The new law, named the Jamie Schanbaum and Nicolis Williams Act, does exactly that.

"Honoring the legacy of our son by including his name in the law will forever remind us how precious life is," Williams said. "Every life spared by this law will be credited to Jamie and Nicolis."

Specifically, the Jamie Schanbaum and Nicolis Williams Act requires all college students under age 30 who are attending class on a Texas campus to present a physician-signed certificate showing they have been vaccinated against bacterial meningitis.

Passage of this law comes on the heels of a report released earlier this year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which found that college-age individuals between 17 and 21 have an exceptionally high rate of meningitis. In fact, the rate of invasive disease among this age group is about twice that of the overall U.S. population, the report states.

"It's the college lifestyle of living in close quarters and all that goes with it that is believed to increase the risk factor for college students," said Healy, who also is an assistant professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine.

The meningococcal vaccine protects against four of the five common strains of the disease, Healy said, and four out of five young adults who get meningitis could have avoided the disease, had they been vaccinated.

"Few things are more heartbreaking than watching someone die from a disease like meningitis that is preventable with immunization," Healy said.

Source: Texas Medical Centre

read more

Meningitis B vaccine close to EU licence - United Kingdom

The Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis hopes to bring to market in Europe a new vaccine for meningitis B, which causes meningococcal disease, by the end of this year.

The vaccine is said to offer 80% protection against the bacterial infection, which causes around 1,600 cases of meningococcal disease and 120 deaths annually in the UK alone.

The breakthrough vaccine now means that meningitis could be virtually eliminated.

Bacterial meningitis can strike in minutes and kill in just hours, and experts have hailed the results of recent trials of the vaccine as very encouraging.

The disease is extremely frightening to parents because it has a 10% mortality rate and can result in permanent disabilities for survivors that include neurological problems, deafness and the loss of limbs and fingers.

A vaccination against meningitis C, which was introduced into the UK in November 1999, is estimated to have prevented 1,000 deaths. Health officials now say the disease has been virtually eliminated.

Meningitis B is the more common strain of the disease, accounting for around 90% of remaining cases.

The new vaccine, known as 4CMenB, performed well in three trials on more than 3,000 infants, toddlers and adolescents.

The results were presented to experts at the European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases in The Hange, and show that the vaccine produces a robust immune response with few side-effects.

It was found to give protection against 80% of the 1,000 strains of the disease that are currently circulating in Europe.

Manufacturer Novartis expects to be given a licence by the European Medicines Agency at the end of 2011.

The current meningitis C vaccine costs around £23 (US$37) to confer full immunity, and the meningitis B vaccine took much longer and required more resources to develop.

But UK officials say the vaccine was no more costly than other vaccines to develop.

One in 10 people carry the meningitis bacterium in their noses and throats without coming to any harm, but can occasionally erupt into an inflammation of the membrane surrounding the brain, causing life-threatening illness.

The factors that trigger the disease are not fully understood.

If the bacterium gets into the bloodstream it can cause meningococcal septicaemia, which can lead to organ failure and death.

Researchers used a technique known as "reverse vaccinology" to develop the 4CMenB vaccine, which uses the decoded genome of a single strain of the bacterium to yield proteins from which the vaccine was constructed.

Then, they used genetic engineering to pick out the proteins that did the best job of stimulating the immune system.

Source: hc2d.co.uk Virtually Comprehensive Healthcare News

read more

Meningitis: At 50 Cents a Dose, a Vaccine Has Success Among West Africans - United States of America

A new meningococcal vaccine, just introduced in West Africa, has produced very encouraging results, according to the public-private partnership coordinating its distribution.

This year’s meningitis season is almost over, and there have been only four confirmed cases of meningitis A in Burkina Faso, the first country to offer the shot to all citizens under 30 (above, a child was vaccinated there). Three infections were in people from Togo, where the vaccine is not used; they had crossed the border for care. The fourth was in a Burkinan who was not vaccinated.

In Mali and Niger, the vaccine was distributed in phased rollouts starting in the most vulnerable areas. No cases were detected in Mali and only four in Niger, all in unvaccinated individuals.

The results were released last week in the journal Health Affairs by the Meningitis Vaccine Project, a partnership of the World Health Organization and PATH, a nonprofit research group in Seattle. It is financed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

“The huge expectations that we had for this vaccine are now being fulfilled,” said Adama Traoré, Burkina Faso’s health minister.

Over the last two decades, more than a million cases have been reported across Africa’s “meningitis belt” on the Sahara’s southern edge. If money is found to roll out the vaccine in that region, some experts believe that it could save 150,000 lives by 2015.

The vaccine, called MenAfriVac, costs only 50 cents a dose. It is made in India with technology donated by the United States government for token royalties. There is no market for it in rich countries, so it is supported entirely by donors.

Source: New York Times

read more

$4.3 Billion Pledged at Vaccine Fund-Raiser - United States of America

Public and private donors have pledged $4.3 billion toward vaccinating children against a variety of diseases, according to the GAVI Alliance, which held its first fund-raising conference for vaccines in London on Monday.

That exceeds the $3.7 billion that the alliance — created 11 years ago as the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization to help poor countries pay for vaccines — had hoped to raise. Some is matching money contingent on other pledges. 

The target is to immunize more than 250 million children by 2015. Vaccines, medical experts say, save more lives than any public health measure other than clean water and sewage.

When GAVI was created, experts estimated that three million children a year were dying of vaccine-preventable diseases; that number has now dropped to two million.

Fifty countries have already applied for the funds, some of which will buy newer, more expensive vaccines against rotavirus, meningitis, pneumococcal disease, hepatitis B and yellow fever; the alliance also hopes to eventually add vaccines against cervical cancer, rubella, typhoid, Japanese encephalitis and other diseases.

Exactly how much the money will buy will be cannot be calculated because vaccine makers have been steadily lowering their prices as political pressure on them increases and as low-cost competitors, mostly from India, enter the field.

“Vaccines are absolutely brilliant value for money,” Andrew Mitchell, Britain’s secretary of state for international development, said at the news conference where the pledges were announced. “For the price of a cup of coffee, it’s possible to vaccinate a child against five killer diseases.”

Bill Gates, who helped create GAVI and whose foundation has given it more than $1.5 billion, said the new money meant “we will be upping our sights” on how fast new vaccines can be made and how many children can be reached. “Eighty percent coverage is not nearly enough,” he said, referring to how many of the world’s children get the three most common vaccines, against diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus.

The United States, which has given more than $650 million in the past, pledged another $450 million, pending Congressional approval. The British government, a sponsor of the pledging conference, gave $266 million, roughly doubling its previous donation. Australia, Norway and Sweden also doubled theirs, Mr. Mitchell said. Japan and Brazil pledged for the first time, as did some foundations and companies, like Anglo-American, the South African mining giant.

The financially strapped British government had recently re-examined all 43 agencies to which it donates foreign aid, Mr. Mitchell said. It froze or cut donations to some, but concluded that GAVI was one of the most cost-effective.

Source: New York Times

read more

First vaccine against deadly meningitis B will be available 'within months' - United Kingdom

The first vaccine against meningitis B – the strain of the disease against which there is no protection – could become available here within months.

 It is likely to dramatically cut the toll of infants and children dying from the disease or struggling with lifelong disabilities.

 Meningitis B is one of the diseases most feared by parents because it is hard to diagnose and swift to kill.

 There are more than 1,200 cases of it in the UK each year, resulting in some 120 deaths, half of which occur in the under-fives.

 Around 250 children are left with serious lifelong complications such as limb amputations, blindness, deafness and brain damage.

More than ten per cent of victims are killed by the disease, with around 15 per cent of survivors left disabled and suffering long-term effects.

Latest research findings on the 4CMenB vaccine found it guarded against about 80 per cent of 1,000 meningitis B strains from across Europe.

There are many types of meningitis caused by different microrganisms. Meningococcal B is the most common form of bacterial meningitis and the toughest challenge for scientists because there are so many strains to target.

Although vaccination programmes have been successfully introduced to combat pneumococcal meningitis and the strains C and Hib, no B vaccine currently exists in this country.

Results from 1,800 children found 4CMenB vaccine worked well alone or with vaccines for other strains.

A further study on 1,500 toddlers found it offered protection when given as a booster jab, while another showed an immune response in adolescents.

The findings, presented yesterday at the European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases in The Hague, came after similar results last year involving thousands of children and adults.

4CMenB was developed by Novartis, which has applied for a marketing licence to the European Medicines Agency covering the UK.

It could be approved by Christmas, when doctors could prescribe it for individual patients and it could be bought privately.

This paves the way for inclusion in Britain’s childhood immunisation programme.

‘The results are an exciting and very positive step in the fight to eradicate meningitis B, which is the biggest killer of all types of meningitis in the UK,’ said Steve Dayman, of the Meningitis UK charity.

‘This vaccine is the first of its kind and has the potential to save thousands of lives.’

After licensing, the Government’s independent advisers, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, will decide whether to recommend routine use for children on the NHS.

The committee will look at its efficacy and safety, while cost implications are considered by the Health Department.

When meningitis C vaccine was added to the childhood programme it was accompanied by a catch-up plan for teenagers and young adults in an effort to increase immunity within the population most at risk.

This in turn reduces transmission of the meningitis bugs.

Mr Dayman called on the Department of Health to ensure the new vaccine is fast-tracked after licensing.

It was developed using so-called ‘reverse vaccinology’, decoding the genome sequence of meningitis B and selecting proteins most likely to be broadly-effective vaccine candidates.

It could be given to babies from the age of two months in three doses, with a booster at one year.

Meningococcus B lives harmlessly at the back of the noses and throats of one in ten people.

Sometimes, however, it invades and inflames the membranes around the brain and spinal cord.

Milder cases respond to rapid antibiotic treatment but the most serious develop into meningococcal septicaemia when the blood is contaminated.

Sue Davie, chief executive of the Meningitis Trust charity, said: ‘A vaccine would significantly decrease the level of suffering we see every day.

‘But it is essential people remain vigilant and make sure they understand the signs and symptoms. It is essential they do not think the problem is sorted.’

Source: Hope, J 2011, First vaccine against deadly Meningitis B will be available 'within months' Mail Online, viewed Monday 13 June 2011, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2001757/First-meningitis-B-vaccine-coming-soon-scientific-breakthrough.html.

read more

Adult vaccines can prevent future health costs - United States of America

Looking to hold down your health care costs? Vaccines are a cost-effective way to reduce health risks, but they are often overlooked by adults.

Many family doctors don't routinely check adults' immunization history and urge them to get recommended shots, said Dr. William Schaffner, head of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and a spokesman for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. The cost can also be a deterrent.

Unlike vaccines for infants and children, most adult vaccines generally aren't stocked by primary care doctors. The exceptions are influenza and pneumonia shots, which usually are covered under preventive care. For other shots, patients often must pay out of pocket until they meet a health plan's deductible, or pay upfront and seek reimbursement, Schaffner said.

Medical experts recommend an annual flu shot and a tetanus-diphtheria booster every 10 years for everyone over 18. Many people know that, but still don't get those shots.

There are eight other vaccines recommended for many adults, depending on age, sex, current health and whether they had or were vaccinated against certain diseases as a child. A couple came on the market in the last several years, and pneumococcal vaccine Prevnar 13, a new rival to Pneumovax, is expected to get approval for adults shortly.

Read the full article now to find out more information about the recommended pneumococcal and meningococcal vaccines in the United States of America.

Source: Johnson, L 2011, Adult vaccines can prevent future health costs, viewed Wednesday 8 June 2011, http://www.skyhidailynews.com/article/20110607/APF/1106070828 

read more

GAVI welcomes lower prices for life-saving vaccines

In the lead up to its first pledging conference on June 13, the GAVI Alliance announced today it has achieved commitments from two emerging market vaccine manufacturers to lower prices for the life-saving pentavalent vaccine, which protects against five deadly diseases. Developed country manufacturers have also offered price reductions on rotavirus and human papillomavirus, or HPV, vaccines.

“These are promising offers that demonstrate industry commitment to work towards affordable and sustainable prices for life-saving vaccines in developing countries. We congratulate all manufacturers who have responded to our call in the lead up to the pledging conference,” said Helen Evans, GAVI’s interim CEO. “We will continue to drive for sustainable prices, while ensuring procurement of innovative, appropriate, quality vaccines to meet GAVI country needs.”

The India-based firms Serum Institute and Panacea Biotec have committed to price reductions on their pentavalent vaccines funded by GAVI. Serum, which had already lowered its price to US$ 1.75 per dose, the lowest price available today, announced it would continue to provide the most competitive pricing and encouraged other manufacturers to follow its lead. Panacea Biotec committed to lower its prices by up to 15%. The pentavalent vaccine protects against five potential killers: diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B, and Haemophilus influenzae type b. The price reductions illustrate the key role of emerging market suppliers as new global players, contributing to both innovation and increasing competitiveness in the market place.

Read the full story now

Source: GAVI Alliance

GAVI welcomes lower prices for life-saving vaccines, media release, 6 June 2011, Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation, Geneva, viewed Tuesday 7 June, http://www.gavialliance.org/media_centre/press_releases/vaccine_prices.php

read more

New research shows need for teenage vaccination against meningitis - United Kingdom

Meningitis Research Foundation has funded research to be released on 1^st June which demonstrates the need for a Meningitis C (MenC) vaccine booster in early adolescence to maintain long term protection against meningitis and septicaemia caused by MenC.

Since the introduction of the MenC vaccine in 1999, MenC disease has fallen rapidly with only 20 cases of the disease recorded in 2010. Over 10,000 cases have been prevented in the last 11 years and more than 1,000 lives saved.

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.

 Previous studies by the Oxford Vaccine Group and the Health Protection Agency have shown that immunity levels fall rapidly after vaccination. This latest MRF-funded study, led by Professor Robert Read at the University of Sheffield, investigated the complex immune mechanisms behind this loss of protection.    

The study, published today in Journal of Clinical Infectious Diseases, 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 one month after vaccination, up to a third of them had unprotective or low antibody responses one year later. Further investigation showed that these people had developed an immune memory response but that this was too slow to protect against MenC infection. 

The results are important since they contribute to the growing body of evidence for introducing a teenage MenC booster. Currently children get 3 doses of MenC vaccine at 3, 4 and 12 months. The second most at risk age group for MenC disease is teenagers and young adults, who are also the main carriers and distributors of MenC bacteria between each other and the rest of the population. It is therefore very important that this age group is protected in their teenage years, and a teenage booster may also maintain protection up to the age when they are likely to become parents.  This will prevent transmission of the disease to young children who are particularly vulnerable.

Chris Head, Chief Executive of MRF, said: “MenC vaccination has been a great success story. This was largely down to the targeted ‘catch-up’ campaign vaccinating all children and teenagers under the age of 19 and subsequently young adults up to 25 years of age – including the age group most likely to carry the MenC bacteria. It is very important to prevent carriage in this age group to keep this disease at bay.  Indeed, a teenage booster could be just the opportunity we need to provide wider protection against these deadly diseases.  If the conjugate MenACWY vaccine was used instead of MenC, we could save lives now forfeit to W, Y and A strains of the bacteria, currently rare in the UK and Ireland but widespread elsewhere in the world.”

For information on the signs and symptoms of meningitis and septicaemia, you can call the Freefone 24 hour helpline on 080 8800 3344, visit www.meningitis.org or download the free app from I-tunes – ‘meningitis bug blaster’.

Source: The Meningitis Research Foundation - an inaugural member of the Confederation of Meningitis Organisations.

read more

Children's Hospital Receives $1 Million Gift to Develop Meningococcal Vaccines - United States of America

Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland announced today a $1 million gift from the Clorox Company to support research with an aim of developing a vaccine against meningococcal disease – a potentially deadly bacterial infection that affects millions of children and young adults throughout the world.

The gift establishes The Clorox Endowed Chair for Immunobiology & Vaccine Development at Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI), supporting the groundbreaking research of Dan Granoff, MD, a physician scientist who played a major role in the development and evaluation of vaccines against Haemophilus influenzae in children. Granoff is also the author or co-author of more than 175 peer-reviewed research articles in areas of microbiology and vaccine research.

"Clorox is thrilled to partner with Children’s in the fight against this devastating disease," says Donald R. Knauss, chairman and CEO of the Clorox Company. "Establishing this chair and the research it will foster aligns strategically with our company’s global cause platform to safeguard family well-being with a focus on infection prevention."

Bertram Lubin, MD, president and CEO of Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland, agrees: "Our shared vision of a world free of meningococcal disease translates into potentially preventing disease in millions of children and young adults. Children’s is excited and humbled by this transformative and generous gift."

Meningococcal bacteria cause potentially deadly infections triggering meningitis and sepsis -- a serious whole-body inflammatory state that is especially virulent among infants and young adults -- in Africa, the United States, and Europe. Granoff’s laboratory focuses on Group B strain and on vaccines for prevention of epidemics in Africa caused by other strains.

The Clorox Endowed Chair for Immunobiology & Vaccine Development at CHORI will allow Granoff to expand his vaccine research against meningococcal disease, and in the years ahead, recruit his replacement at the Research Institute.

"I am confident that a successful vaccine can be made to control meningococcal disease," says Granoff. "This generous gift from The Clorox Company brings us closer than ever to finding a means for eradicating this devastating bacterial infection."

Source: Infection Control Today, United States of America

read more

Stress of doctors in battle on meningitis - Ireland

Meningitis is every doctor's worst nightmare and keeps them awake at night, a leading researcher has revealed.

Doctors are nervous even discussing meningitis in public, said Dr Tom Bourke from the Paediatric Department in the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Belfast.

And the problem of children presenting with non-specific symptoms is the biggest fear for doctors at all levels.

"There are a few things that keep you awake at night as a doctor. One of the things I worry about when I go home is if I've sent a child home with meningococcal disease.

"A child with meningitis can have non-specific symptoms. They can be the same as a tummy bug. We see 17,000 children with temperatures a year and only 30 have meningitis.

"I'm at the middle level of experience and for more junior doctors it's even more of an issue. I have enough experience now that if children have enough signs and symptoms, I'll know straight away."

Dr Bourke said often medical professionals can be blamed for not spotting meningitis on time, but he says the cruel virus is often very evasive for doctors.

"I think doctors are just generally afraid of publicity because they're afraid that the perception is going to be negative, quite often if the family feels that a mistake has been made.

As many as half of all children who present in the early stages of meningitis are sent home without the correct diagnosis, according to Dr Bourke.

"The second problem is there is no test, so doctors have no way of knowing whether it's meningitis or infection. We're trying to develop rapid tests in research funded by the Meningitis Research Foundation.

"This would reassure doctors that most people are well and correctly diagnosed. All we can do is examine children and look for specific symptoms like the rash and sore eyes and stiff neck."

Source: Herald, Ireland, 31 May 2011

read more

Law takes a shot at meningitis on college campuses - United States of America

Greg Williams remembers his son, Nicolis -- Nico for short -- always telling him that he was going to be famous one day.

It finally happened, but not the way anyone ever could have imagined, or ever would have wanted.

Gov. Rick Perry on Friday evening signed the Jamie Schanbaum and Nicolis Williams Act into law, which requires all incoming college freshmen to be vaccinated for bacterial meningitis.

Soon after, Greg Williams -- whose son died of the disease -- got the call from the mother of Jamie, a University of Texas student who survived the illness after contracting it in 2008, but it left her without her legs and most of her fingers.

Schanbaum's mother told him the bill had been signed.

"I was extremely excited. My heart almost jumped out of my chest," Greg Williams said in a telephone interview from Sugar Land on Sunday. "It's a victory for Texas and all future college students because it's going to happen again at some point. We just hope this law will prevent that."

The law contains an "opt-out" clause for students, but there will be substantial information about the risks presented before a student can decline the vaccination.

"It's like playing Russian roulette with your life," Greg Williams said. "Yes it's rare, but it can happen to anyone at anytime."

His son was a junior at Texas A&M when he became ill in early February with what most thought was the flu. He visited A.P. Beutal Health Clinic on campus and showed no signs of anything life-threatening.

Nicolis Williams had developed an aggressive form of bacterial meningitis, and within four hours of leaving the clinic to go home, he lost consciousness. Three days later he was dead.

When he was taken off life support, the 20-year-old was surrounded by his family, all of whom kept questioning how a disease could take the life of a thriving young person so quickly.

"No parent should have to bury their child, and this law will help ensure that tragedy will never happen," Greg Williams said. "I only wish it would have been enacted when Nico registered for school."

Greg Williams was driving back to Houston to make funeral arrangements when he raised the issue with State Rep. Charlie Howard in a phone call asking why there wasn't a law requiring the meningitis vaccination.

Howard, a Republican from Sugar Land, told Greg Williams such a law did exist, but only applied to students who live on campus in dorms. Nicolis Williams lived in an off-campus dormitory. For the next three months, Greg Williams dedicated several hours each day working to get legislation rolling to protect students from the disease.

"My father taught me years ago to give 100 percent in everything I do," Greg Williams said. "I'm doing this so urgently because I don't want another parent to say to themselves, 'I didn't know about meningitis.'"

Bacterial meningitis is a disease that causes an inflammation and swelling of the membranes in the brain and upper spinal column, which, in turn, can lead to severe side effects or death. It's contagious, but requires relatively close contact, such as drinking after someone with it, as well as kissing or breathing in a cough of someone who has the disease.

"It's nothing to play around with," Greg Williams said. "It can kill or mutilate your body within a few hours, so why take the chance because most doctors will treat you for the flu."

Greg Williams said his work is not finished. His focus now will be on the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

"I'm not done yet," Greg Williams said. "The hard part is done now. Getting the law passed was number one, number two for me was help the universities implement the law and number three, that they enforce it."

Source: theeagle.com Byron-College Station, Texas, viewed 31 May 2011

read more

Meningitis bill signed into law - Texas, United States of America

A new law signed into effect Saturday will change how students find housing on campus.

In addition to the current law which requires an adolescence vaccination at 11 years old, Senate Bill 1107 will add a booster shot at the age of 16.

Current law, SB 819 passed in the 81st legislature, provides for exceptions if a physician deems the vaccination would be injurious to the health and well-being of the student or the student refuses the vaccination on grounds of religious belief. The previous law also requires a physician-signed certificate showing the student has been vaccinated against bacterial meningitis, unless they are only enrolled in online classes.

Senate Bill 1107 now requires that all first-time students and transfer students provide a certificate showing they have had the meningitis vaccination during the five-year period preceding the date established by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

Another change, students will now be allowed to use an official immunization record as proof of vaccination. Any student who doesn’t have proof will have 10 days form the start of a semester to provide proof of vaccination.

The law, which is effective immediately, would not apply to students who are over the age of 30. The compliance for the new law will be overseen by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

Source: Austin News KXAN.com

read more

FDA approves the first vaccine to prevent meningococcal disease in infants and toddlers - United States of America

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved in April the use of Menactra in children as young as 9 months for the prevention of invasive meningococcal disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis serogroups A, C, Y and W-135. Menactra already is approved for use in people ages 2 through 55 years.

Meningococcal disease is a life-threatening illness caused by bacteria that infect the bloodstream (sepsis) and the lining that surrounds the brain and spinal cord (meningitis). Neisseria meningitidis is a leading cause of meningitis in young children. Even with appropriate antibiotics and intensive care, between 10 percent and 15 percent of people who develop meningococcal disease die from the infection. Another 10 percent to 20 percent suffer complications such as brain damage or loss of limb or hearing.

Although the rates of meningococcal disease are low in the United States, infants and toddlers are more susceptible to getting this serious illness. Meningococcal disease is particularly dangerous because it progresses rapidly and can cause death within hours. Early symptoms are often difficult to distinguish from influenza and other common illnesses.

“The highest rate of meningococcal disease occurs in children under one year of age. With today’s approval, Menactra can now be used in children as young as 9 months of age to help prevent this potentially life-threatening disease,” said Karen Midthun, M.D., director of FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

The safety of Menactra in children as young as 9 months was evaluated in four clinical studies in which over 3,700 participants received the vaccine. The most common adverse events reported in children who received Menactra at 9 months and 12 months of age were injection-site tenderness and irritability. Occurrence of fever was comparable to other vaccines routinely recommended for young children.

Menactra is given as a two-dose series beginning at 9-months, three months apart; and the study results showed the vaccine produces antibodies in the blood that are protective against the disease.

Menactra was originally approved on Jan. 14, 2005, for use in individuals ages 11 years through 55 years and was approved in October 2007 for children as young as 2 years. Menactra is manufactured by Sanofi Pasteur Inc. of Swiftwater, Pa.

For more information visit the U.S. Food and Drug Association website

Source: U.S. Food and Drug Association

read more

CDC Report Shows Bacterial Meningitis Cases on the Decline - United States of America

The incidence of bacterial meningitis dropped by 31 percent between 1998 and 2007, new government research shows.

The drop was led by reductions in infections by two powerful germs -- Neisseria meningitidis and Streptococcus pneumoniae -- that are covered by available immunizations. With fewer infections among young children, the burden of the disease is now mainly borne by older adults, the study authors found.

"The good news is that fewer people are getting bacterial meningitis. The bad news is that if you get it, it's still a very serious infection," said study co-author Dr. Cynthia Whitney, chief of the bacterial respiratory diseases branch at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

"There are still at least 4,000 cases a year, including about 500 that are fatal," she noted.

Read the full article now

Source: US News and World Report

read more

Diseases return as jab rate drop off - Special Investigation - Australia

DEADLY diseases eradicated decades ago are making a comeback because more parents are refusing to vaccinate their children.

Health authorities warn children are at risk of becoming seriously ill and dying from whooping cough, measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria and tetanus because they are not having their jabs.

Parents who refuse to immunise believe the vaccines are harmful, but doctors say they are ill-informed and putting the entire community at risk.

"It is unfair to the child as the child is too young to make an informed decision, and these are very nasty diseases that can kill," infectious diseases expert Dr Jeremy McAnulty said.

"The scientific evidence is overwhelming: immunisation has effectively got rid of many diseases and minimised others, and is one of our greatest public-health achievements," NSW Health's director of Health Protection added.

Around one per cent of parents don't immunise their children, but in some pockets of Sydney's north shore and eastern suburbs, the rate of conscientious objectors is eight per cent, and as high as 21 per cent in the Byron Shire.

"If we don't maintain high rates of immunisation, we risk many of these deadly diseases reappearing," he said.

Multiple cases of whooping cough, measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria and tetanus have been recorded on the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System this year.

Tragically, an unimmunised 22-year-old from Brisbane died of diphtheria last month after contracting the disease from a traveller.

There have been more than 40 cases of measles reported in NSW so far this year, and almost 5000 of whooping cough - the most of any state.

Seven babies have died from whooping cough in the past two years, including one on the north coast around Easter.

Premier Barry O'Farrell, who on Friday had a whooping cough booster shot, said the state government needed to review strategies to combat conscientious objectors, but ultimately it was up to parents.

"We shouldn't be contracting to the state what parents need to take responsibility for," Mr O'Farrell said.

"We need to ensure we have the information out there to make sure the myths and misinformation on the internet are combated. It needs to be a constant effort because it does worry me there is a lack of immunisation.

"It's been a good seven years since my youngest was four and, like many of us, you make the assumption when you don't have young kids, you're not at risk."

Google "vaccines" and one of the first sites to pop up is the Australian Vaccination Network (AVN) that upholds the now-discredited and withdrawn Andrew Wakefield study into an alleged link between autism and the measles, mumps and rubella, or MMR, vaccine.

Dr McAnulty said authorities had no control over what was published online, but the science in favour of vaccination was overwhelming.

The National Immunisation and Research Surveillance Centre's Professor Robert Booy said: "Immunisation has brought a host of life-threatening infectious diseases under control to the point where experienced GPs can no longer recognise diseases, such as measles, because they rarely see them."

One in 1000 children who contract measles will die, and one in 1000 will develop severe brain swelling. Professor Booy said the vaccine's side-effects were minimal by comparison.

"Some will develop a slight fever or a rash, and one in 100,000 will experience some brain swelling, but it's 100 times less risk than the risks of the disease itself."

Many vaccines do contain live viruses and preservatives, such as mercury and formaldehyde, which are known neurotoxins, which some parents are concerned about.

But Professor Booy said the risks from the mercury and formaldehyde levels were negligible.Sydney naturopath Fiona Kane, who volunteers with the AVN, said most naturopaths opposed vaccination.

"I like the idea of vaccines - I just have a lot of doubts about them and what's in them, mercury and aluminium. My problem is we're not allowed to question them."

Sandra Rogers, Australian Traditional Medicine Society president, said the society did not take a position on the subject of vaccinations because it was so contentious.

Vaccines for Hib and pneumococcal, causes of potentially fatal meningitis, were brought in 10 years ago.

"Those diseases used to affect 400-500 children a year, and each kill around 20 children - it just doesn't happen anymore," Professor Booy said.

Source: The Telegraph.com.au, Australia

read more

Meningitis vaccine brings hope to Burkina Faso - Africa

Having watched her father go deaf from meningitis, Georgette Sawadogo uttered 'Thank God!' when she heard of a new vaccine against the disease, and marched her children off to be immunised.

"I ran to vaccinate my three children. I have very clear memories of my father's suffering when he had this illness and I don't want my children to have the same fate," the 34-year-old teacher told AFP.

Bacterial meningitis, which causes deadly epidemics, sparks fear in the 25-country meningitis belt which spreads from Senegal to Ethiopia -- encompassing many of the world's poorest countries.

Microsoft magnate Bill Gates, rallying world leaders on Tuesday to invest in vaccines, invent new ones and make them cheap enough for poor countries, puts the terror of meningitis succinctly.

"A perfectly healthy child can be playing with friends one minute and be dead in a matter of hours," he told the World Health Assembly in Geneva.

A new vaccine against Meningitis-A -- a strain which accounts for 80-85 percent of cases in the meningitis belt -- has made history, Gates said.

In 1996, when the deadliest epidemic ever tore through this region, infecting more than 250,000 people, the only weapon against it was a short-lasting vaccine used only once epidemics were already in full swing.

In the 2009 epidemic season, 5,342 people died across 14 African countries, according to the World Health Organisation.

In a novel public-private partnership, MenAfriVac was developed specifically for Africa and rapidly brought to market -- manufactured by the Serum Institute of India -- for less than 50 cents per dose.

It usually costs about $500 million to develop and bring a new vaccine to market, something Bill Gates and his foundation are trying to change.

MenAfricVAc was rolled out in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger in December 2010.

In Burkina Faso there has been only one case of Meningitis-A in 2011, Gates told the meeting in Geneva.

Doctor Sylvestre Kiendrebeogo at Burkina Faso's health ministry told AFP this was compared to 17 cases in the same period in 2010.

"We have vaccinated 11.5 million people. There are very few cases since the vaccination."

Gates, who wants the same kind of action to see five or six new vaccines introduced in the next decade, said this data makes him hopeful.

"For centuries, meningitis terrorised a region of 400 million people. This vaccine can help end the terror.

"We need to continue creating and delivering more vaccines, but finally, for the first time, we have every reason to expect progress. A bleak picture has turned bright."

For Traore Sekou, 64, a former railway worker in Ouagadougou, who also had his three children vaccinated recently, not having to worry about meningitis is a huge relief.

"I have seen many colleagues lose their children. Now I am reassured because the nurse told us the vaccine immunises for 10 years. Aside from malaria it is the disease which kills the most here so if it is eliminated we can get by because for malaria, we sleep under nets."

If MenAfriVac is introduced throughout southern Africa, the resulting reduction in meningitis cases could free up to $120 million from national budgets by 2010, according to the World Health Organisation.

Source: World News

read more

Patients must set the agenda on non-communicable diseases - Switzerland

Patient advocates have called for a stronger role in setting the agenda in the design and delivery of strategies to prevent and manage non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and chronic diseases more broadly. This call was made at a Side Meeting to the World Health Organization (WHO) World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland. The meeting was hosted by the International Alliance of Patients’ Organizations (IAPO) and two of its member patient groups; Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI) and the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation (MSIF) and attended by over 50 participants including member state representatives, health professionals and WHO representatives

read more

Pneumococcus bacteria is a major cause of deadly pneumonia - Peru, South America

In our country, between 30 and 40% of respiratory infections that cause death in children under five are caused by pneumococcus, highly contagious bacteria that can be prevented through vaccination, as reported by Dr . Eduardo Verne Martin, chairman of the Advisory Committee on Immunization, Ministry of Health (MoH).

The pediatric infectious disease specialist, said that the pneumococcus is capable of causing various infections and severe invasive processes in human beings, including the deadly pneumonia if not treated early can affect the infant's life, and recommended vaccinating children against this organism.

Verne Martin drew attention to this issue because according to the Global Alliance for Vaccine Immunisation, pneumococcus is the leading cause of death in children under 5 years of vaccine preventable diseases in the world.

He added that other consequences of pneumococcal invasive disease is otitis, meningitis, sinusitis, and septicemia, diseases that cause death. "The addition of pneumococcal meningitis can kill left with severe disability to a patient who has suffered and for life," he said.

In that connection, he highlighted that in our country, the Ministry of Health has taken a bold step in child health include the pneumococcal vaccine in the National Immunization Scheme, which ensures their generosity and continued throughout the years.

Read the full story and in Spanish now*.

*To translate the article into your local language copy the text into Google Translate.

read more

Haiti Presents Plan to Vaccinate 90 Percent of Children Under 1 - United States of America

Haiti has finalized a plan to ensure immunization against the country’s most prevalent childhood diseases for at least 90 percent of children under 1 by 2015.

Haitian health authorities presented the plan this week to a group of international partners convened by the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO). The plan reflects the Haitian Ministry of Public Health and Population’s determination to re-launch routine vaccination efforts, which were lagging—relative to other countries of the Americas—even before the earthquake.

More than 2,000 Haitian children under 5 die annually of rotavirus (which causes diarrhea), while thousands more die of other vaccine-preventable diseases.

The plan’s specific goals include:

• increasing immunization coverage from around 60 percent to 90 percent among children under 1;
  maintaining the country free of polio, measles, and rubella;
• eliminating maternal and neonatal tetanus by 2015;
• introducing new rotavirus and pneumococcal vaccines, as well as the pentavalent vaccine which protects against diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), tetanus, Hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), which is a bacteria responsible for some types of meningitis and pneumonias;
• and improving immunization surveillance for the early detection of vaccine-preventable diseases.  

PAHO/WHO is supporting the Ministry of Public Health and Population by coordinating the participation of partners who are expected to support the plan in a variety of ways, from funding to supporting building cold storage for the vaccines and provide training for health care workers who will deliver the vaccines.

Read the full article now

Source: Pan American Health Organization

read more

MRF reveals costs of supporting survivors of meningitis is in the millions - United Kingdom

The shocking lifelong costs of surviving meningitis and septicaemia have been examined by Meningitis Research Foundation (MRF), resulting in the launch of a new campaign on 10 May calling on the Government to pursue the widest and earliest implementation of vaccines to prevent the diseases.

Counting the Cost of Meningitis is a comprehensive analysis of the lifetime impact of the diseases on illustrative case studies:

• Peter, who was 18 months old when he was struck down with septicaemia which left him with multiple amputations and behavioural difficulties;
• Emma, who was three years old when she became ill with meningitis which left her brain damaged, deaf and partially blind

These illnesses have far-reaching consequences with survivors facing an on-going need for specialist medical care as well as additional educational & financial support running into the millions. 

Christopher Head, Chief Executive of MRF said: “Our analysis improves on the patchy existing research in this area, and shows how meningitis and septicaemia affect those who survive, and how they struggle to come to terms with diseases which change lives forever. Counting the Cost of Meningitis makes practical recommendations to Government to reduce the burden of disease through vaccination in the UK.”

Speaking at the event is Diana Man (28) from Kent who said: “I contracted meningococcal septicaemia in November 2007 and have had both lower legs and all the fingers on my right hand amputated. I also have epilepsy. As I get older I am likely to experience other health issues, some due to the active lifestyle I am leading on my prosthetic limbs, and others due to the significant medication I take each day. I’m supporting this campaign as I have survived meningitis and I think it’s really is important to highlight the difficulties myself and others face in the future both financially and emotionally.”

Support this campaign and find out more

Source: The Meningitis Research Foundation, United Kingdom

read more

GAVI commits $US100 million to fight meningitis A - Switzerland

Geneva, 11 May 2011 – The GAVI Alliance has committed US$100 million to help tackle meningitis A in Cameroon, Chad, and Nigeria, part of a strategy to save tens of thousands of lives in Africa with a new life-saving vaccine, MenAfriVac.

Hit frequently by epidemics, Africa’s “meningitis belt” consists of 25 countries stretching from Senegal in the west to Ethiopia in the east. A 1996/97 epidemic hit 250,000 people, of whom 25,000 died and 50,000 were left with varying forms of disability.

Developed at around 50 US cents per dose, the new single-dose vaccine, MenAfriVac, specifically addresses group A meningococcal meningitis, responsible for over 85% of observed meningococcal meningitis in Africa.

Read more about this important vaccine and the impact it will have

Source: GAVI Alliance

read more

Children's vaccine for pneumococcal disease given a boost - Australia

The sole bright spot in the budget for Australia's drug industry is the decision to fund a catch-up program to protect children aged up to three against a wider range of strains of pneumococcal disease.

The move, costing $40.7 million over four years, follows a decision in February to provide the Prevenar 13 vaccine free of charge to children, as part of a three-dose course when babies are two, four and six months old.

Prevenar 13 protects children against 13 strains of pneumococcal disease -- nearly double the coverage of the existing Prevenar product, which only gives immunity to seven strains. The government included no provisions in its February announcement to allow older children to access the new vaccine, but the budget move means it will now be available to children who are between 12 and 35 months old who have completed a course of the original Prevenar vaccine.

Read the full story now

Source: The Australian newspaper

read more

Campaign's counting the cost of illness - United Kingdom

A Thornbury charity has calculated the cost of ongoing medical care for people who have suffered meningitis.

The Meningitis Research Foundation has worked out that the cost of caring for people who have survived meningitis and septicaemia can run into millions across their lifetime. Representatives from the charity were due in London today to campaign for the Government to pursue a vaccination to prevent people being struck down by the diseases.

Among the examples featured in Counting the Cost of Meningitis is a baby who had to have amputations after contracting septicaemia and will require £2,833,374 of medical support if he lives to 70.

Chief executive Christopher Head said: "Our analysis improves on the patchy existing research in this area, and shows how meningitis and septicaemia affect those who survive, and how they struggle to come to terms with diseases which change lives forever.

"Counting the Cost of Meningitis makes practical recommendations to Government to reduce the burden of disease through vaccination in the UK."

Source: Evening Post, United Kingdom

read more

Cabinet approves the use of vaccines in Fiji

Cabinet has approved the introduction of three new vaccines to the Fiji immunization programme yesterday.

The new vaccines are the pneumococcal vaccine, and rotavirus vaccine for children under five years, and the HPV vaccine for 12-14-year-old girls.
 
Cabinet based its decision on a submission by the Minister for Health, Dr Neil Sharma.
 
The Minister said that immunization is a key public health intervention in protecting humans against harmful infections or diseases.
 
“It is considered one of the most important cost effective public health interventions for the protection of children and women’s health contributing to the attainment of MDG 4 and 5.”

Dr Sharma said that Fijian children are currently protected from 9 serious infectious diseases, namely measles, diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough),poliomyelitis, tetanus, rubella, tuberculosis (TB), hepatitis B and Hemophilus influenza type B (Hib) in its immunization schedule.

The Minister said that although the pneumococcal and rotavirus vaccines will not impact substantially in averting mortality rates their impacts will be mainly on marked reduction in morbidity or ill-health in children as these diseases are significant causes of presentations to health facilities.
 
“Additionally the Pneumococcal vaccine has also been trialled in the Fijian population and has not shown any adverse or untoward events in the use of these vaccines.”

Read more about this announcement

Source: Fiji Live

read more

Dormitory dwellers among those who should get meningococcal vaccine

Source: Ventura County Star

read more

The State of Wisconsin proclaims 24 April 2011 as World Meningitis Day

On Wednesday 20 April 2011 the State of Wisconsin (USA) proclaimed Sunday 24 April 2011, Meningitis Day.

Meningitis affects as many as 3,000 Americans every year and the Proclamation recognised the efforts of the Becky Werner Meningitis Foundation and the Confederation of Meningitis Organisations (CoMO) to build meningitis awareness on World Meningitis Day.

Based in Mukwonago Wisconsin, The Becky Werner Meningitis Foundation is a member of CoMO and was established to build meningitis awareness and educate the public and medical communities about this deadly disease. Committed to early prevention and diagnosis the Foundation also supports research into preventative vaccines and treatments for meningitis and provides support for meningitis victims and their families.

For more information about the Becky Werner Meningitis Foundation and to read the Proclamation in full, visit their website www.stampoutmeningitis.com.

read more

New Zealand launch The Meningitis Foundation

World Meningitis Day Marks the Establishment of The Meningitis Foundation Aotearoa New Zealand

Sunday 24 April 2011 is the third annual World Meningitis Day. Meningitis organisations from across the globe come together to raise awareness about the ominous threat of contracting meningitis and septicemia and the devastating effects of these deadly diseases, to encourage prevention of some strains through vaccination.

In support of World Meningitis Day 2011, a group of passionate New Zealanders, committed to raising awareness of meningitis, have come together to establish and launch The Meningitis Foundation Aotearoa New Zealand.

The Meningitis Foundation will provide an opportunity for families affected by meningitis and septicemia to connect with each other and to share their stories to help others. These personal accounts and experiences will provide a vehicle for raising community awareness about meningitis and septicemia.

“Together, we aim to inform people about the steps they can take to protect themselves and their loved ones,” said Ms Tania Wolfgramm, a meningococcal septicemia survivor, advocate for disease awareness and a founding member of the Meningitis Foundation.

“As a survivor, I can tell you that meningitis is one of the most horrific diseases, not just for those affected but also for their families. As individuals, parents and healthcare providers, we must be vigilant. Meningitis is a difficult disease to identify in the early stages, the speed of disease progression is rapid and the associated pain and trauma cannot be described. We must never be complacent,” added Tania. Meningitis and septicemia are deadly diseases that impact the lives of hundreds of thousands of families throughout the world.

Meningitis and septicemia can often result in tragic death, deafness, loss of limbs, brain damage or other neurological disabilities. Sadly, those most affected often include infants, who have just begun to experience life and all that it has to offer, as well as adolescents and young adults who are busy enjoying time with friends and family and learning in school.

Bacterial meningitis, the most severe type of meningitis, is most commonly caused by Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), Streptococcus pneumoniae (or pneumococcus) and Neisseria meningitidis (or meningococcus). These bacterial infections are also known as pneumococcal disease and meningococcal disease. Many people do not realize that some forms of these diseases are preventable through vaccination.

An epidemic of meningococcal disease began in New Zealand in 1991, and since then a total of 265 deaths have been recorded, with hundreds more suffering severely debilitating effects. In 2009 there were 132 notified cases of meningococcal disease with most of these being under five years old.

The New Zealand Ministry of Health currently provides vaccination programmes for Hib and pneumococcal disease; endeavouring to protect our children and young people. A vaccine for the most common strains of meningococcal disease is available free to high-risk populations and to others who are able to pay for it.

The next big step is to improve New Zealand’s record for protecting our children and to drive up our vaccination rates. “Every eligible child should have access to these vaccines,” said Tania. “One child lost or damaged is one too many, and with accurate information, education and when possible, vaccination, we can reduce the number of meningitis cases that we currently see in New Zealand”.

For more information about The Meningitis Foundation Aotearoa New Zealand, please contact Paul Gilberd on 021 424 079, Andrea Brady on 021 977 688, or by email using info@meningitis.org.nz.

read more

PRESS RELEASE - CoMO honours World Meningitis Day with global call to action

Confederation of Meningitis Organisations honours World Meningitis Day with a global call-to-action to “join hands” in the fight against meningitis, and in support of those touched by this dangerous disease

- Meningitis organisations worldwide advocate for improved awareness of meningitis symptoms and vaccination to help protect those at increased risk, especially children -

Perth, Australia, 18 April 2011 – Of all infectious diseases, perhaps none grips parents with greater fear than meningitis, with its sudden onset, flu-like symptoms and potentially deadly nature.

World Meningitis Day, on Sunday 24 April, is dedicated to raising disease awareness, underscoring the importance of prevention through vaccination and improving support for those dealing with the potentially devastating consequences of the disease.

The Confederation of Meningitis Organisations (CoMO) invites people to visit www.comoonline.org  and become a member of the global family by “joining hands” in the fight against meningitis, and to show support for meningitis awareness and prevention.

Meningitis is a potentially deadly inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, which can be the result of infection by bacteria, viruses and fungi. Bacterial meningitis is the most severe type, and it is a medical emergency. It can strike quickly^, be difficult to diagnose, and can lead to death in a matter of hours. In addition, a potentially life-threatening blood poisoning called septicaemia may be associated with the disease.

Those surviving bacterial meningitis or septicaemia can have their lives devastated as a result of after-effects, such as deafness, epilepsy, brain damage, and, with septicaemia, limb loss. Meningitis impacts people of all ages, but infants, children and adolescents are particularly at risk of infection.

Vaccines are now available to protect against many of the bacteria which cause meningitis and septicaemia.

“No one should ever have to see their child, sibling, friend or classmate suffer or die from a disease that is vaccine-preventable,” said Bruce Langoulant, president and member of the Governing Council of CoMO, and father of a meningitis survivor.

“On World Meningitis Day, we must educate people about meningitis and urge them to protect themselves, their families and their community against meningitis. Talk to your doctor to find out what you can do to defend yourself and your loved ones from this devastating disease.”

This year, to raise awareness of meningitis and bring a face to the disease that knows no borders, CoMO is launching a podcast on meningococcal disease, a leading cause of bacterial meningitis. The podcast, created with the support of Novartis Vaccines, features experts, survivors and parents from around the world whose lives have been touched by the disease. The podcast is available on the CoMO website, as well as Facebook and YouTube.

CoMO members around the world are recognising World Meningitis Day by raising awareness in the media and online – via websites and social networks – as well as in their communities through local events and fundraisers. To learn more about activities near you, please check for a CoMO member in your country by visiting the Find a como member in my country page within the CoMO website.

CoMO supports the use of all safe and effective vaccines as a means of reducing meningitis-related morbidity and mortality. For information about vaccines available in your country, talk to your doctor or visit the Find a como member in my country page to contact a CoMO member near you.

About Meningitis
Meningitis is an inflammation of the brain and spinal cord. It can be the result of infection by bacteria, viruses and fungi. Bacterial meningitis is the most serious type of meningitis, and it is often associated with a potentially life-threatening blood infection (septicaemia). The most common bacteria causing meningitis and septicaemia are Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcal) and Neisseria meningitidis (meningococcal). 

Meningitis can develop rapidly and its symptoms often resemble the flu (e.g., fever, fatigue and headache), which makes it difficult for doctors to diagnose. Even with early and appropriate treatment, the rates of death and serious long-term effects of the disease can be high. Survivors often suffer serious long-term consequences, such as deafness, epilepsy, brain damage, and limb loss. While the disease can affect people of all ages, infants, children and adolescents are at an increased risk of infection. Immunisation against bacterial meningitis with those vaccines that are available is essential; no one should suffer from this disease.

About World Meningitis Day                                                                                                                 
World Meningitis Day – annually on 24 April – is dedicated to raising awareness of meningitis, underscoring the importance of prevention through vaccination and improving support for those dealing with the potentially devastating consequences of this disease. The global family has grown over the past two years and now reaches across the globe from North and South America, through Europe to the Middle East, into the Indian subcontinent and throughout South East Asia and the Far East to Australia to join hands across state lines, country borders and continents. The date of 24 April 2011 is significant because it overlaps with European Immunisation Week, sponsored by the World Health Organization, and Vaccination Week in the Americas, promoted by Pan American Health Organization and supported by health authorities throughout the United States, Canada and Central America. We invite you to become a member of our global family by “Joining Hands Against Meningitis” on the CoMO website at www.comoonline.org and showing support for meningitis awareness and prevention.  

About The Confederation of Meningitis Organisations (CoMO)                                                         CoMO was founded in September 2004, at the close of a World Conference of Meningitis Organisations. Encouraged by the information shared at the meeting, 20 delegates formed CoMO in order to help support the fight against meningitis by emphasising the global burden of the disease and supporting the establishment of new meningitis and children's health organisations. CoMO now has 29 members in 20 countries around the globe, and its mission is to assist member Organisations to be sustainable, identifiable and influential sources for information and support services for those people affected by meningitis in their regions and united in their endeavours globally through their membership. CoMO works to facilitate resource and knowledge sharing between member organisations, and helps establish patient groups in countries where they do not exist. CoMO is committed to the elimination of meningitis and septicaemia. To learn more about CoMO and its member organisations, visit www.comoonline.org.

Media contact: 

Linda Gibbs
Secretariat, Confederation of Meningitis Organisations, Inc. (CoMO)
Email: lindag@ichr.uwa.edu.au
Phone: +61 8 9489 7791

read more

CoMO President calls on the world to support World Meningitis Day

Organisations in twenty countries from all corners of the world will call on the global community to come together on Sunday 24 April 2011 to participate in World Meningitis Day.

These organisations are members of the Confederation of Meningitis Organisations (CoMO). Their aim is to promote the importance of vaccinations against meningitis and to raise public awareness of both meningitis and septicaemia worldwide.

Meningitis is a serious, often fatal infection causing inflammation of the membranes that protect the brain and spinal cord (meninges). Viral meningitis is the most common form, but bacterial meningitis is the most serious. It can result in brain damage, deafness and death, even if treated early. Meningitis can be associated with blood poisoning (septicaemia) which causes loss of limbs.

“Despite the availability of proven vaccines, meningitis and septicaemia unnecessarily kill and main thousands of people around the world every year,   for survivors and their families the effects can be devastating.  In today’s world this is totally unacceptable," said CoMO President Bruce Langoulant.

"It is vital that everyone has access to available vaccines, information on the signs and symptoms of the disease and for those who have been affected that they and their families receive quality care and support,” said Bruce.

CoMO is a rapidly expanding organisation whose members are predominately parent led organisations.  Members are committed to the elimination of meningitis and septicaemia.  They also strive to provide sustainable, identifiable and influential sources of information and support services for those people affected by meningitis in their respective regions.  Members host fundraising events, sponsor research projects and much more.

Mr Langoulant asks that before World Meningitis Day on 24 April, on the day and during 2011, people around the world visit the CoMO website at www.comoonline.org and 'join hands' in our online global community in support of those touched by the disease and to raise awareness of meningitis and septicaemia.

Media contact: 
Linda Gibbs
Secretariat, Confederation of Meningitis Organisations, Inc. (CoMO)
Email: lindag@ichr.uwa.edu.au
Phone: +61 8 9489 7791

read more

10 days to go! Sunday 24 April 2011 is World Meningitis Day.

There are only 10 days left for you to get involved in World Meningitis Day 2011!

On Sunday 24 April 2011 meningitis organisations across the world will come together to raise awareness about the devastating effects of meningitis and septicaemia and encourage prevention through vaccination in the third annual World Meningitis Day.

Four simple things you can do to build meningitis awareness and help save lives around the world.

We are working to improve meningitis awareness across the globe and we can't do this without your help! Take a look at the four simple things listed below that you can do to build meningitis awareness and help save lives around the world.

1. View our video podcast titled Saving a Life - protecting our children from the dangerous meningococcal disease. This podcast is available in English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Turkish!
2. Join hands with people around the world in our online global community to show your support for meningitis awareness and prevention.
   
   Our online community now links more than 35 countries around the world. Hands are joined across State lines, across country borders and across continents making it turly a world event. Who will you join hands with?
3. Like us on Facebook and join in on the conversations, share your story and encourage your family and friends to do the same.
4. Send an Ecard to family and friends to show your support for meningitis awareness and prevention and to help save lives.

Meningitis and septicaemia are deadly diseases that imapct the lives of hundreds of thousands of families worldwide. Many people do not realise that some forms of these diseases are preventable through vaccine.

With your help we will be able to protect against these diseases, save lives and take steps forward to make life after meningitis and septicaemia easier for those affected!

read more

View the World Meningitis Day 2011 video podcast today

To honour World Meningitis Day 2011 the 'Saving a Life - Protecting our children from dangerous meningococcal disease' podcast has been produced to raise awareness of meningococcal disease, a leading cause of bacterial meningitis, and to illustrate how this devastating disease can effect lives.

In this video podcast you will hear from the Confederation of Meningitis Organisation's (CoMO)President Bruce Langoulant, medical experts, survivors, and parents from around the world who have been touched by this disease and who express the importance of vaccination.

View the World Meningitis Day video podcast now!

Share this video podcast with family and friends and join hands with people around the world for World Meningits Day, Sunday 24 April 2011, and raise awareness of meningitis and its prevention .

Note: This video podcast is also available in languages other than English: French (français), Italian (Italiano), Portuguese (português), Spanish (español) and Turkish (Türkçe).

read more

Texas college student tries to save others from meningitis - USA

Jamie Schanbaum is more than a survivor; she's a young woman with a mission. Struck by meningitis as a University of Texas at Austin sophomore at age 20, she battled the infection for months and lived -- but at the cost of her her fingers and both legs below the knee.

When she learned that the meningitis vaccine could have prevented all her pain, she fought tirelessly to help get the Jamie Schanbaum act passed, which requires all students living in university housing to have the vaccination. Now a junior at UT Austin, she's fighting to get the act expanded to include all incoming students. It's a move that the parents of Nicolis "Nico" Williams say might have saved their child, a 20-year-old at Texas A & M University who died of meningitis in February. He had not been required to get the vaccination because he was living off campus.

Read more about Jaime's story and meningitis

Source: The Dallas Morning News, United States of America

read more

World Meningitis Day is just 30 days away

World Meningitis Day is around the corner and we want you to Join Hands against meningitis with people around the world to help raise awareness about the devastating effects of meningitis and septicemia and to encourge prevention through vaccination.

Meningitis is the inflammation of the lining around the brain and spinal cord. Septicaemia is the blood poisoning form of the disease. The two forms of the disease have different symptoms and can kill in hours and particularly devastating is disease caused by bacteria called meningococcus. People who recover from meningitis and meningococcal disease may be left with a range of after effects that dramatically alter their lives.

Meningitis around the globe

The Confederation of Meningitis Organisations (CoMO) was established in 2004 to unite people across the world in the fight against meningitis and septicaemia. Vaccinations that have been developed and introduced over the past 18 years have helped to significantly reduce the number of cases of the disease.

In 2010 huge steps forward were made in the development and distribution of a meningococcal A vaccine for Sub-Saharan Africa, and a vaccine for meningococcal B disease is at last on the horizon.

However even with this progress there is still a lot of work that needs to be done. There are areas of the world that do not have access to these life saving vaccines, and there are strains of the disease that we are yet to conquer. Meningitis and septicaemia still kills and disables tens of thousands of people every year across the world. These are diseases that affect the most vulnerable – babies and young children.

Our focus with your help

"We are proud of the developments and research that is being conducted around the world at this very moment to find a way of eradicating this disease, but we still have several different focuses," said CoMO President Bruce Langoulant.

"We are focused on raising awareness of the disease so sufferers get the right treatment as quickly as possible. We are focussed on raising the awareness of the benefits provided by vaccines and to make them available in countries that don't currently have access to them and we want to raise awareness of the impact of meningitis and septicaemia so we can support those who have already been touched by the disease.

"You can help us to achieve these goals by raising your voices, raising money and encouraging others to Join Hands against meningitis on World Meningitis Day Sunday 24 April."

read more

Save the date - CoMO urges everyone to save the date of World Meningitis Day

World Meningitis Day 2011- Save the Date.doc

read more

Second World Meningitis Day

The Confederation of Meningitis Organisations (CoMO) designated Saturday, 24 April 2010, as the second annual World Meningitis Day, in order to raise global awareness of this widespread and often devastating condition, help prevent future meningitis cases and improve support for those dealing with meningitis-related after-effects.

read more

Spanish “Talks to Schools” Programme

Thanks to a small grant from CoMO, Fundacion Irene Megias contral Meningitis has been able to initiate an information programme in schools. The president of the Fundacion, Jorge Megias, has visited schools across Spain to speak to pupils and staff about the signs and symptoms and the prevention of meningitis. The programme was carried out through March and April and talks were given in five schools.

read more