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18 January 2012
Expert reaction to new vaccine against group B meningococcal disease, as published in The Lancet
New research announced testing of a new vaccine for meningitis B.
Kate Rowland, Head of development at Meningitis UK, said:
"Meningitis Group B is the major cause of meningococcal disease in the UK, causing about 2,000 cases per year (mainly in the under-fives followed by adolescents).
"The UK is a hot spot for Meningitis B with one of the highest incidence rates of the disease in the world.
"Scientists have been trying to develop a vaccine against Meningitis B for years but it has been very challenging as its capsule is similar to the structure of human nerve cells and the bacteria is clever; mutating and adapting. Trying to get a vaccine to induce protection in infants/toddlers, amongst whom most of the disease occurs, has been very problematic."
Dr Myron Christodoulides, Senior Lecturer in Molecular Microbiology at the University of Southampton and chair of Meningitis UK’s Scientific Medical Panel, said:
"Previous studies have shown that 4CMenB has the potential to provide significant protection when administered to infants. This new study shows that the vaccine could also be highly protective in the adolescent age group.
"However, there are still a number of important questions to be answered such as how many strains it will protect against, how long the protection will last and whether it will stop the bacteria from being passed on to others, providing indirect protection to those not vaccinated."
'Immunogenicity and tolerability of a multicomponent meningococcal serogroup B (4CMenB) vaccine in healthy adolescents in Chile: a phase 2b/3 randomised, observer-blind, placebo-controlled study' by María Santolaya et al., published in The Lancet on Wednesday 18th January 2012.
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