Does Meningococcal Vaccine Work?

(Ivanhoe Newswire) — A recent study has found that routine infant immunizations that have a vaccine of serogroup B Neisseria meningitides (a bacterium that causes serious diseases like meningitis) produced minimal interference with response to the routine vaccinations and was effective against meningococcal strains.  In some clinical trials, serogroup B Neisseria meningitides (MenB) vaccines were proven to control a clonal MenB scare in New Zealand and were effective, but the high strain of such vaccines limited their usefulness in younger children and infants.

The study randomly gave approximately 1,885 infants at two months old during August 2008 until July 2010 a multi-component serogroup B meningococcal vaccine (4CMenB) in 2 different schedules to assess the ability to produce an immune response and reactogenicity (producing adverse reactions) of 4CMenB to provide a larger range of protection.  Patients were randomly given 4CMenB at 2,4, and 6 months with routine vaccines; 4CMenB at 2, 4, and 6 months with routine vaccines at 3, 5, and 7 months; 4CMenB with routine vaccines at 2, 3, and 4 months; or just routine vaccines at 2, 3, and 7 months.  Researchers wanted to measure the percentage of participants with human complement serum bactericidal activity (hSBA) concentration of 1:5 or greater against 3 MenB strains (NZ98/254, 44/76-SL, and 5/99).

Ninety-nine percent of patients had hSBA concentration of 1:5 or greater for strains 44/76-SL and 5/99 after immunization with 4CMenB and routine vaccines at 2, 4, and 6 months or 2, 3, and 4 months.  For NZ98/254, the proportion was 79 percent for those who had vaccinations at 2, 4, and 6 months with routines, 86.1 percent for vaccination at 2, 4, and 6 months without routine vaccinations, and 81.7 percent for vaccines at 2, 3, and 4 months with routine vaccines.  This shows that there was sufficient immune response for all three strains.

“Fever was seen following 26 percent to 41 percent of 4CMenB doses when administered alone, compared with 23 percent to 36 percent after routine vaccines given alone and 51 percent to 61 percent after 4CMenB and routine vaccines administered together.  In conclusion, 4CMenB was immunogenic, generally well tolerated, and showed minimal interference with routine vaccines in the first year of life. The flexibility in schedule allows it to be incorporated into a range of country-specific immunization schedules and for primary immunization to be completed in early infancy. If licensed, the decisions regarding vaccine introduction will require detailed assessment of potential vaccine coverage at a regional level and monitoring after implementation to determine the accuracy of such predictions. Nevertheless, this vaccine could potentially provide improved protection for infants against meningococcal disease beyond the protection provided by currently licensed vaccines,” Nicoletta Gossger, M.D., of the University of Oxford, United Kingdom and colleagues who worked on the study were quoted as saying.

SOURCE:  JAMA, February 2012