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Neisseria meningitidis vaccines

3K views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  MissRubyandKen 
#1 ·
Is this true? In the Wiki webpage it says that there is no evidence that the two vaccines for meningitis offer more than a 3 year protection. Here's the link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neisseria_meningitidis

We don't vax, but I'm always trying to keep up with information and always reevaluating our decision. I've always thought the pneumonia and meningitis vaccines were dumb but after reading this why would anyone get these vaccines? I guess I can see if your child is in daycare when they're young, but the one the little kids can get is the Menomune vaccine and that's the worst, as far as protection, of the two.

I guess my question is my first sentence. Is that true? You can rely on 3 years protection and that's about it?
 
#2 ·
You can read about the meningococcal vaccines for N. meningitidis in the CDC's pink book here. They are Menactra and Menomune (package inserts for efficacy info) and neither are recommended for routine administration for children younger than eleven. Menactra is supposed to be much more effective, especially in younger children. Either can be given between ages 2-55 if the person is at "increased risk".

Quote:
Infants younger than 12 months of age have the highest
rates of disease.

Quote:
In 2001, 65% of cases among infants aged less than 1 year were
caused by serogroup B, for which no vaccine is available in
the United States.

Quote:
In one study, efficacy declined from more than 90% to less than 10% 3 years after vaccination among children who were younger than
4 years of age when vaccinated. Efficacy was 67% among
children who were older than 4 years of age at vaccination.
 
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