Meningitis vaccine is now approved for infants and toddlers

by Aimee Keenan-Greene

There is a new weapon to help protect infants and toddlers in the fight against meningitis.

Meningococcal disease is a life-threatening illness caused by bacteria that infects the bloodstream and the lining surrounding the brain and spinal cord .

Meningococcal disease progresses rapidly and can cause death within hours. 

Early symptoms are often difficult to distinguish from influenza and other common illnesses.

Now the Food and Drug Administration  (FDA) has approved the first vaccine for children as young as 9 months to prevention of invasive meningococcal disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis serogroups A, C, Y and W-135.

Menactra was evaluated in four clinical studies with over 3,700 participants .

The most common adverse events reported in children 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.

Neisseria meningitidis is a leading cause of meningitis in young children.

The FDA says even with antibiotics and intensive care, between 10 and 15 percent of people who develop meningococcal disease die from the infection.

Another 10 to 20 percent suffer complications such as brain damage or loss of limb or hearing.   

Even though rates of meningococcal disease are low in the United States, infants and toddlers are more susceptible to getting this serious illness.

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