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Saturday, October 01, 2005CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommends routine vaccination of young adolescents (defined in this report as persons aged 11--12 years) with MCV4 at the preadolescent health-care visit (at age 11--12 years). Introducing a recommendation for MCV4 vaccination among young adolescents might strengthen the role of the preadolescent visit and have a positive effect on vaccine coverage among adolescents. There were better reasons than suggested by that report. According to The Medical Letter, the number of cases of meningococcal meningitis in the United Kingdom declined from 67 to 5 within a year of vaccinating 80% of children under 18. The number of cases remained the same in unvaccinated age groups, so the strategy of vaccinating younger children rather than waiting until they go to college makes some sense, if your goal is to eliminate as much disease as possible the American way - without regard to cost. (The vaccine is $80 per dose) But now, the FDA is investigating potential serious side effects of the vaccine: The government is investigating five reports of teenagers who came down with a serious neurological disorder after receiving a new vaccine against meningitis. ....The five cases reported two to four weeks after Menactra vaccination occurred in 17- or 18-year-olds in New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, FDA said. All are reported to be recovering. Studies of more than 7,000 Menactra recipients by manufacturer Sanofi-Pasteur showed no GBS [Guillian-Barre Syndrome - see above link - ed.] cases, and more than 2.5 million doses have been administered since it hit the market, FDA said. The rate of GBS is similar to what is expected without vaccination, but the timing of the cases is of concern and warrants further investigations, FDA said. Five cases out of 2.5 million doses is quite small, especially compared to the number of cases of meningitis: While there are fewer than 3,000 cases of invasive meningococcal meningitis each year, and 300 deaths, people ages 15 to 24 have the highest mortality rates, and survivors can suffer mental disabilities, hearing loss and paralysis. However, the disease incidence is higher in those under 1 years old and ages 18-24 than it is in the 11-12 year age group. Furthermore, the duration of the vaccine's effectiveness is not known, which means these pre-adolescents may end up needing boosters before they go off to college - when they'll be at a higher risk of catching the disease. So, while the number of Guillian-Barre cases may seem quite low, so is the incidence of meningococcal disease in the group getting the shots. The vaccine needs to be scrutinized a little more before it's given to every child in the country. posted by Sydney on 10/01/2005 01:14:00 PM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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