Adolescents Should Get A Vaccine Against Bacterial Meningitis

Adolescents Should Get A Vaccine Against Bacterial Meningitis.
Teenagers should get a booster endeavour of the vaccine that protects against bacterial meningitis, a United States robustness prediction has recommended. The panel made the recommendation because the vaccine appears not to last as long as some time ago thought. In 2007, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended that the meningitis vaccine - as a rule given to college freshman - be offered to 11 and 12 year olds, the Associated Press reported. The vaccine was initially aimed at on a trip public school and college students because bacterial meningitis is more dangerous for teens and can confiture easily in crowded settings, such as dorm rooms.

At that time the panel thought the vaccine would be true for at least 10 years. But, information presented at the panel's meeting Wednesday showed the vaccine is competent for less than five years. The panel then decided to recommend that teens should get a booster stab at 16.

Although the CDC is not bound by its advisory panels' recommendations, the agency usually adopts them. However, a US Food and Drug Administration official, Norman Baylor, said more studies about the shelter and effectiveness of a espouse dose of the vaccine are needed, the AP reported.

Some at the encounter wondered if it was even necessary to make such a decision. Cases of bacterial meningitis are at historic lows, and a inspection of more than 200 colleges and universities - representing more than 2 million students - in the in the end academic year found 11 cases of bacterial meningitis and three deaths, the AP reported.

In a bulletin release issued after the vote, the National Meningitis Association said it "supports the conclusion to maintain meningococcal immunization at age 11-12 and to add a booster dose to provide increased check of disease among adolescents throughout their high-risk years. This is a good public salubrity decision that will protect our children from meningococcal disease".

Meningitis is an inflammation of the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord, and is in the main caused by a viral or bacterial infection. The disease can result in imagination damage, hearing loss or learning disabilities, according to the CDC. In January, the New England Journal of Medicine published a sanctum that found that rates of pneumococcal meningitis have declined substantially since a vaccine was introduced in 2000.

The declines were seen not only in children given the vaccine but also in adults, suggesting a "herd immunity" effect, the memorize authors noted. To assess the carry out of the vaccine, researchers from several universities analyzed reconnaissance data from 1998 to 2005 in eight states breastactives. The number of cases of the disability dropped 30 percent in that time, but the effect on the very youngest and oldest was even more pronounced: Incidence decreased by 64 percent in those younger than 2 and by 54 percent in those older than 65.