Until recently, there was no vaccine that protected against serogroup B meningococcal disease, although it is one of the three most common strains in the United States. Now, clinicians have two options to help prevent this devastating disease.
In October 2014, the FDA licensed the first serogroup B meningococcal vaccine, Trumenba, for use in persons ages 10 to 25. A second, Bexsero, was approved in January 2015 for the same age-group.
“These vaccines are critically important in combating meningococcal disease,” according to Dr. Paul Lee, Director of the International Adoption Program and Pediatric Travel Clinic at Winthrop University Hospital and Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. “Humans are the only reservoir for meningococcal bacteria, and vaccination has been shown to reduce the number of carriers.”
About one-third of the meningococcal cases in the US are caused by serogroup B.
Individuals living in a community setting, such as a college residence hall, are at greater risk for meningococcal disease. In 2013 and 2014, two college campuses—Princeton University and the University of California, Santa Barbara—experienced unrelated outbreaks of the disease, according to the CDC.
Despite medical advances in the past century, meningococcal disease remains a devastating illness. While there are fewer than 1,000 cases per year in the US, 10% to 15% of them are fatal. Among patients who recover from the disease, up to 20% will experience serious sequelae, such as permanent hearing loss, mental retardation, or loss of limbs.
The disease can develop quickly, causing irreversible damage to the body within hours. Even patients who present to the emergency department soon after symptom onset are at risk for serious disability or death.
“The best and most effective way to take care of patients is to prevent them from getting [meningococcal disease] in the first place,” Dr. Lee said. “And that would be through vaccination.”
Although there has been increasing parental resistance to vaccination in general, for Dr. Lee, immunization against meningococcal B is a no-brainer. “Vaccines save lives. Period. Death is final and there is no medical cure,” he said. “Vaccinations may not be perfect, but they offer life and hope—and that is always better than the alternative.”
Dr. Lee is a consultant to Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics.