60,000 South Australian Students To Be Given Free Meningococcal B Vaccine

The Meningococcal B vaccine, which has not been provided in the National Immunisation Program, will now be offered for free to around 60,000 South Australian students.

The deadly Meningococcal B has already claimed several lives this year. Among them is one-year-old Charlie Mason also from South Australia who died from suspected Meningococcal B-strain.

Despite this, the Meningococcal B vaccine is still not currently part of the vaccines provided for free under the National Immunisation Program, and is not provided to all children.

And so, the researchers from the University of Adelaide will provide the vaccination for free to 60,000 South Australian students in years 10, 11 and 12 as part of a state wide study into the impact of immunising large community groups against the disease.

Associate Professor Helen Marshall, Director of the Vaccinology and Immunology Research Trials Unit at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital and the University of Adelaide’s Robinson Research Institute said that South Australia had the highest rate of Meningococcal disease in Australia since 2012, with more cases in adolescents than infants.

“It is vital we learn more about the disease and the benefits of vaccinating against Meningococcal B.

“At this point in time, a vaccine is not available for free through the National Immunisation Program, because more information is required to demonstrate whether – in addition to the individual protection it offers – immunisation prevents transmission to others. This study will examine if the Meningococcal B vaccine reduces the spread of meningococcal bacteria in teenagers through what is known as herd immunity,” she said.

Records show that there has been an increase in Meningococcal B cases in South Australia in 2016.

Two-year-old Riley Nixon may have survived, but he underwent amputations on both legs at the knees, with an extra three centimetres removed from his left leg. He lost all of his fingers, but has kept his palm and half of his thumb on his left hand, all of these were the result of contracting the Meningococcal disease.

The study is being funded by pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline. Participants will be vaccinated with two doses of the licensed Meningococcal B vaccine, given approximately eight weeks apart. Two throat swabs will also be collected during 2017 and 2018.

The South Australian Minister for Health, Jack Snelling, said the state government is fully supporting the study saying that studies like these are important in learning more about the disease.

Source: Kidspot.com.au