Researching meningo vaccines....

[nia82]

I'm new to this one, it's not discussed in the Sears book and wasn't on my radar when I had infants only. I have a few questions and hope that some of you have some good links or done their homework already :)

1) What brands are licenced and which subtypes do they cover?

2) How prevalant is each of these subtypes in the US and Europe?

3) How likely is it to contract the disease - what type of contact is needed?

4) Mortality from each subtype?

5) Reactiveness of each available vaccine?

6) What type of vaccine is it - polysaccharide?

7) How much aluminum, thimerosal is in each dose and does any brand use fetal growth mediums?

8) How many doses are given and how long is the track record of decent titers afterwards, aka how many doses will one need for a lifetime?

Thanks!

[slmommy]

Menactra – Sanofi Pasteur

http://www.fda.gov/downloads/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/ApprovedProducts/UCM131170.pdf

Menomune  A/C/W/Y– Sanofi Pasteur

http://www.fda.gov/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/ApprovedProducts/ucm230717.htm

Menveo – Novartis

https://www.novartisvaccinesdirect.com/PDF/Menveo_Full_Promotional_PI.pdf

None cover B. 

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/vis/downloads/vis-mening.pdf

This says Menomune is 3-5 years and Menactra about 8, and Menactra has more reactions

http://www.acha.org/projects_programs/meningitis/Conjugate_Menin_Vaccine_Benefits.pdf

[MommatoGray]

Are you thinking of just men C vaccines?

Or "meningitis" vaxes??

[nia82]

Meningococcal. There are several subtypes and several different vaccines (US and Europe) so I'm trying to get some starting points to learn which types are prevalent where, which vaccines are out there and how severe the diseases themselves are (caused by the different types).

Thanks slmommy! I see none cover serotype B which appears to be the most common culprit?

[slmommy]

Nia, what country are you in? Maybe you will have better results if you search in the local language for which serotypes have had cases in recent years?

http://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/meningitis/whoemcbac983.pdf

on page 12-13 it says that A is responsible for most of the larger epidemics and a lot of the cases in Africa, while B is more sporadic and C has also caused large outbreaks. 

I don't remember where I found it, but when I was researching Men C (which is on the schedule at 3, 6, 9 mos here) in Brazil, where I'm living, I think it said B and C were most prevalent?? but it really depends on geography. 

On that document, (page 4), it doesn't look like there have been many major outbreaks in Europe recently. It discusses vax on page 26. I'm not sure what year this publication is from though.

I was hoping to find a nice map about which serotypes are in which countries mostly, but no luck...

[nia82]

I live in the US but travel frequently to Europe (dual citizen), so I have access to both markets of vaccines but also to both "markets of bacteria". 

I distinctly remember meningo was something I heard very rarely growing up. Never a case in my area until I was in college. No cases in college and grad school (2000-2006) and that was a LARGE university in Munich. So I'm starting to read up on this... But we never have shared dorms back home. That seems to be the thing in the US. I'm just trying to understand how often this really happens, how infectious it is (and how it is transmitted) and take it from there. Seems more something that is for older children. Yet in Brazil and Germany it's on the toddler schedules...

[slmommy]

ETA - Sorry, I didn't realize Menactra is approved for after 9months and other brands after 2 years.

In Brazil, there is a different vax for Men C at 3,6,9 months I believe. 

Edited by slmommy - 2/23/12 at 8:03am

[MommatoGray]

I couldn't find exactly which brand is used here in Alberta, Canada. It looks like these three are the ones that they use: Meningitec, Menjugate, NeisVac. Here they do the shot at 2, 4, and 12 months. It looks like between 1-4 year olds get two doses and over 5 get one.

Here is a link explaining more detail:http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/publicat/ccdr-rmtc/07vol33/acs-11/index-eng.php

Like I said its Canadian, so I am not sure if it will help or not!