Potential Serious Side Effect
Very rarely, serious side effects can occur with any vaccine. Speak with your healthcare provider immediately if you or your child experience:
- Dizziness, ringing in the ears, or vision changes after the vaccine is administered. This could indicate that you are going to faint.
- Severe pain in your shoulder or trouble moving your arm where the shot was administered.
- Symptoms of an allergic reaction, including changes to breathing. This can happen even hours after a shot is given.
Preteens And Teens Are At Increased Risk For Meningococcal Disease An Uncommon But Serious Illness
Meningococcal disease can be devastating and oftenand unexpectedlystrikes otherwise healthy people. Although meningococcal disease is uncommon, teens and young adults 16 through 23 years old are at increased risk. Meningococcal bacteria can cause severe, even deadly, infections like
- Meningitis
- Bacteremia or septicemia
About 1 in 5 people who survive their meningococcal infection have permanent disabilities.
Do I Need To Pay For Meningococcal Immunisation
Vaccines covered by the NIP are free for people who are eligible. See the NIP Schedule to find out which vaccines you or people in your family are eligible to receive.
Eligible people get the vaccine for free, but your health care provider may charge a consultation fee for the visit. You can check this when you make your appointment.
Children and adolescents not eligible for meningococcal vaccines through the NIP, may be able to receive free vaccines through state-funded programs. Contact your state or territory health department for details.
If you are not eligible for free vaccines, you may need to pay for it. The cost depends on the type of vaccine, the formula and where you buy it from. Your immunisation provider can give you more information.
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Where And When Can I Get The Vaccine
Talk to your doctor or local public health clinic to find out where and when your child should get vaccinated.
- The cost of Men-C-C is covered everywhere in Canada.
- Many provinces currently cover the cost of MCV-4 vaccine.
- Currently, no provinces or territories cover the cost of Men-B vaccine for all children. Some provide it for children at high risk of getting meningococcal disease.
What Are The Risks From Meningococcal Vaccine
Most people have mild side effects from the vaccine, such as redness or pain where the shot was given. A vaccine, like any medicine, may cause serious problems, such as severe allergic reactions. This risk is extremely small. Getting the meningococcal vaccine is much safer than getting the disease.
You can learn more on the Vaccine Information Statements for meningococcal ACWY and meningococcal B.
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How Can I Protect My Child From Meningitis
Get vaccinated! Keeping up to date with recommended immunizations is the best defense against meningococcal disease. The CDC recommends that all teens and young adults ages 11-18 receive the meningitis vaccine, and some children as young as 6 weeks old who are at increased risk. Prevention is always best when it comes to vaccine-preventable diseases. Learn more about the meningitis vaccine for infants, children, teens and young adults.
Maintaining healthy habits, like getting plenty of rest, not sharing cups or water bottles, and not coming into close contact with people who are sick, can also help.
Side Effects Of The Menb Vaccine
Babies given the MenB vaccine alongside their other routine vaccinations at 8 and 16 weeks are likely to develop a high temperature within 24 hours of vaccination.
It’s important to give your baby liquid paracetamol following vaccination to reduce this risk. Your nurse will advise you about using children’s paracetamol at your vaccination appointment.
Other common side effects of the MenB vaccine include:
- pain, swelling or redness where the injection was given
- diarrhoea or being sick
- crying and irritability
The liquid paracetamol will also help with these symptoms.
An allergic reaction is a rare side effect of the MenB vaccine. This may be a rash or itching that affects part or all of the body.
Very rarely, a baby may have a severe allergic reaction after having the MenB vaccine.
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Meningococcal Vaccine: Canadian Immunization Guide
For health professionals
Latest partial content update :
: The chapter has been updated to align with the National Advisory Committee on Immunization Statement : The Use of Bivalent Factor H Binding Protein Meningococcal Serogroup B Vaccine for the Prevention of Meningococcal B Disease.
Updates include:
MenB-fHBP vaccine may be considered as an option for use in individuals 10 years of age and older in situations when a serogroup B meningococcal vaccine should be offered:
MenB-fHBP vaccine may be considered as an option for individuals 1025 years of age who are not at higher risk of meningococcal disease than the general population, but who wish to reduce their risk of invasive serogroup B meningococcal disease.
Last complete chapter revision: May 2015
Do I Really Need To Worry
On average there are around 3,200 cases of bacterial meningitis a year after babies, 16-25 year olds are the age group most affected.Experts are currently worried about an increase in cases associated with a particularly aggressive MenW strain, called ST-11 – in 2009/10 there were only 22 cases in England, but this went up to 210 cases in 2015/16. Scarily, one in seven teenagers infected with MenW don’t survive.
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Cdc Does Not Routinely Recommend A Menb Vaccine For All Teens And Young Adults However All Teens May Get Vaccinated Preferably At 16 To 18 Years Old
Serogroup B meningococcal disease is relatively rare. Outbreaks have occurred at several U.S. colleges during the past decade. CDCs current recommendation gives people access to MenB vaccines to help prevent this uncommon, but serious illness. However, doctors and parents should discuss the risk of the disease and weigh the risks and benefits of vaccination. Available data suggest these vaccines are safe and provide protection, but that protection decreases fairly quickly after vaccination.
Your Childs Schedule Of Baby Immunisations
Every baby and child in the UK is offered a schedule of routine immunisations starting from when theyre two months old. The Department of Health, Public Health England and NHS England all recommend these immunisations to help protect your baby from what would otherwise be common childhood diseases.
In some areas, your baby will be offered a BCG tuberculosis vaccination in the first day or so. This will also be the case if your baby has family members visiting from countries that have high rates of TB .
It is important that your baby gets immunised at the right age, as this will help to keep the risk of your child catching a serious disease as low as possible. Premature babies might be at greater risk of infection so immunisations are particularly important for them .
Youll be given a personal child health record thats called a red book. Its called that because the cover is usually red and its for recording your childs health. It contains details of the fairly rigid schedule to follow for immunisations. Your babys GP might also send you reminders for when their immunisations are due.
Your baby will be protected sooner if they keep to the schedule for their immunisations. If something does happen to delay or interrupt the schedule, they can pick it up again at any time. Although something to be aware of is that delays to some immunisations can slightly change the schedule .
Heres what the current schedule for immunisations in the UK looks like.
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Reasons Why Your Baby Should Not Be Immunised
There are very few reasons why babies cannot be immunised.
Vaccines should not be given to babies who have had:
- a confirmed anaphylactic reaction to a previous dose of the vaccine
- a confirmed anaphylactic reaction to neomycin, streptomycin, or polymyxin B
In general, children who are immunosuppressed should not receive live vaccines. Children who are immunosuppressed include those:
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whose immune system does not work properly because they are undergoing treatment for a serious condition such as a transplant or cancer
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who have any condition which affects the immune system, such as severe primary immunodeficiency. Primary immunodeficiencies are very rare diseases that mean you are more likely to catch infections. They are usually caused by a faulty gene and are diagnosed soon after birth
If this applies to your child, you must tell your doctor, practice nurse or health visitor before the immunisation. They will need to get specialist advice on using live vaccines such as MMR, rotavirus vaccine and Bacillus CalmetteGuérin vaccine . There are no other reasons why vaccines should definitely not be given.
Menacwy Vaccines Are Safe However As With Any Vaccine Side Effects Can Occur
About half of the people who get a MenACWY vaccine have mild problems following vaccination, such as:
- Redness where the shot was given
- Soreness where the shot was given
- Muscle pain
- Headache
- Feeling tired
If they occur, these reactions usually get better on their own within 1 to 2 days. Serious reactions are possible, but rare.
CDC continually monitors the safety of all vaccines, including MenACWY vaccines. For more information, view the Meningococcal ACWY Vaccine Information Statement.
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Simultaneous Administration With Other Vaccines
Men-C-C and 4CMenB vaccine may be administered concomitantly with routine childhood vaccines, and Men-C-ACYW vaccine may be administered concomitantly with adolescent and adult age appropriate vaccines. MenB-fHBP can be given concomitantly with quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine meningococcal serogroup A, C, Y, W conjugate vaccine and tetanus toxoid, reduced diphtheria toxoid and acellular pertussis vaccine adsorbed. The concomitant administration of MenB-fHBP has not been studied with other vaccines.
Men-C-ACYW-CRM can be administered with routine paediatric vaccines however, further studies are needed with regard to concomitant administration with pneumococcal 13-valent conjugate vaccine. Co-administration of Men-C-ACYW-CRM and combined tetanus toxoid, reduced diphtheria toxoid and acellular pertussis vaccine may result in a lower immune response to the pertussis antigens than when Tdap vaccine is given alone however, the clinical significance of this is unknown. Tdap vaccine given one month after Men-C-ACYW-CRM induces the strongest immunologic response to pertussis antigens.
If vaccines are to be administered concomitantly with another vaccine, a separate injection site and a different syringe must be used for each injection.
Refer to Timing of Vaccine Administration in Part 1 for additional general information.
Persons With Inadequate Immunization Records
Children and adults lacking adequate documentation of immunization should be considered unimmunized and started on an immunization schedule appropriate for their age and risk factors. Conjugate meningococcal vaccine, as appropriate for age, may be given regardless of possible previous receipt of the vaccine, as adverse events associated with repeated immunization have not been demonstrated. Refer to Immunization of persons with inadequate immunization records in Part 3 for additional general information.
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Causes Of Bacterial Meningitis
Bacterial meningitis can be caused by several different types of bacteria. The most common types that infect babies include:
- Group B streptococcus, known as group B strep. This is passed from mother to newborn during labor and childbirth if the mother is infected and not treated.
- Escherichia coli , which is also spread from mother to baby during labor and birth and by eating contaminated food.
- Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzaetype b , which are commonly spread through coughing and sneezing.
- Listeria monocytogenes, which is spread through contaminated food. A fetus can be infected with listeria during pregnancy if the mother consumes food contaminated with the bacteria.
- Neisseria meningitidis, which is spread through saliva.
Changes To The Immunisation Programme
Immunisation programmes are regularly reviewed to make sure that all children are offered the best protection against preventable diseases. As new vaccines become available, or research shows that giving existing vaccines at different times improves protection, the programme will be changed.
Recent changes to the UK programme have been:
- giving hepatitis B vaccine at 8 weeks, 12 weeks and 16 weeks of age
- giving rotavirus vaccine at 8 weeks and 12 weeks of age
- giving MenB vaccine to babies at 8 weeks,16 weeks and 1 year of age
- giving flu vaccine to all eligible primary school aged children
- giving meningococcal A, C, W and Y vaccine to young people around 14 years old
- giving human papillomavirus vaccine to boys as well as girls from September 2019
- giving a single priming dose of pneumococcal vaccine at 12 weeks of age instead of 2 doses at 8 and 16 weeks
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How To Get The Menb Vaccine
Your GP surgery or clinic will send you an appointment for your baby to have their MenB vaccination along with their other routine vaccinations.
Most surgeries and health centres run special immunisation or baby clinics.
If you cannot get to the clinic, contact the surgery to make another appointment.
Meningococcal C Conjugate Vaccine
NeisVac-C is a meningococcal conjugate vaccine to protect against meningococcal group C only.
This can be used to protect babies under the age of 9 months. Babies who are less than 9 months of age need three doses to be protected. Children over 9 months of age and adults should be given the ACWY vaccine, Menactra.
The NeisVac-C vaccine is funded for children aged under 9 months with a medical condition that increases their risk of invasive meningococcal disease AND is listed on the Pharmaceutical Schedule. Refer to the Immunisation Handbookfor more details.
NeisVac-C is also available as a purchased vaccine through your family doctor. The cost is approximately $98 per dose.
For more advice on vaccines and their availability, talk to your family doctor, call the free Immunisation Advisory Centre helpline 0800 IMMUNE , or see the Immunisation Handbook.
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Can Menb Disease Be Prevented
Yes. This vaccine helps protect babies against MenB and there are other vaccines, like MenC, that protect against some other types of meningococcal infections.
Immunising babies helps protect them when they’re most at risk of developing meningococcal disease.
Meningitis and septicaemia are very serious diseases that need urgent medical treatment. Some of the symptoms are very similar to the symptoms of flu, so, if youre in any doubt about your babys health, trust your instincts and get advice urgently by phoning your GP, or the 111 service if your GP is closed.
Key Points About Meningitis In Children
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Meningitis is an inflammation of the thin membranes that cover the brain and the spinal cord.
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It is most often caused by a bacterial or viral infection that moves into the cerebral spinal fluid. A fungus or parasite may also cause meningitis.
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Meningitis caused by a virus is more common and usually less severe. Bacterial meningitis is usually more severe and may lead to long-term complications or death.
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An infection usually starts in the respiratory tract. In a child, it may first cause a cold, sinus infection, or ear infection. It can then go into the bloodstream and reach the brain and spinal cord.
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A lumbar puncture is the only test that diagnoses meningitis. A needle is placed into the lower back, into the spinal canal.
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Several vaccines are available to prevent some of the bacterial and viral infections that can cause meningitis.
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Common And Local Adverse Events
Conjugate meningococcal vaccines
Men-C-ACYW vaccines
Injection site reactions occur in up to 59% of vaccinees. Fever is reported in up to 5% of recipients and systemic reactions, such as headache and malaise, are reported in up to 60% of recipients.
Men-C-C vaccines
Mild reactions, including injection site reactions , occur in up to 50% of vaccine recipients. Irritability occurs in up to 80% of infants and fever in up to 9% when other vaccines were administered. Headaches and malaise occur in up to 10% of older children and adults. These reactions last no more than a few days.
Serogroup B Meningococcal vaccines
4CMenB vaccine
Solicited local and systemic reactions have been commonly reported in clinical trials and include injection site tenderness, induration, sleepiness and irritability. Higher rates of fever have been observed with simultaneous administration of 4CMenB vaccine and routine infant vaccines therefore, routine prophylactic administration of acetaminophen or separating 4CMenB vaccination from routine vaccination schedule has been proposed for preventing fever in infants and children up to three years of age.
MenB-fHBP vaccine
Solicited local and systemic reactions have been commonly reported in clinical trials and include injection site tenderness, induration and irritability.
Travel Advice For Children
If your child is going abroad, make sure their routine immunisations are up to date. Your child may also need extra immunisations and you may also need to take other precautions.
Contact your doctors surgery or a travel clinic well in advance for up-to-date information on the immunisations your child may need.
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Why Are Meningococcal Vaccines Recommended
Meningococcal disease is caused by a type of bacteria. It can lead to an infection of the bloodstream or meningitis, or both, and can be life-threatening if not quickly treated. The MenACWY vaccine is very effective at protecting against four strains of the bacteria, while the MenB vaccine protects against a fifth strain.
Rare Side Effects Of Meningococcal Immunisation
There is a very small risk of a serious allergic reaction to any vaccine. This is why you are advised to stay at the clinic or medical surgery for at least 15 minutes following immunisation in case further treatment is required.
If any other reactions are severe and persistent, or if you are worried, contact your doctor for further information.
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