What Is The Meningitis Vaccine Made Of

Pneumococcal Infections After Influenza

Pneumococcus is known as an opportunistic infection because it lives in the respiratory tract of people without causing disease, but when the respiratory tract is compromised by an infection such as influenza, the bacteria then invades the lungs , bloodstream , or brain and spinal cord . Activities like smoking can also disrupt the lining of the nose and throat and allow for pneumococcal infections and subsequent disease.

Other Types Of Pneumococcal Disease

Pneumonia vaccines protect against pneumococcal infections in other parts of the body. These infections include:

Otitis media

• What is it: An infection in the middle part of the ear.

• Symptoms: Fever, ear pain, and decreased hearing

• Who gets it: In the U.S., over 5 million children get it each year. Pneumococcus is a common cause of ear infections. It is found in up to 30% of samples of middle ear fluid.

Sinusitis

• What is it: A sinus infection, which is often first caused by a virus. Later, a bacterial infection can set in, causing worsening or ongoing symptoms.

• Symptoms: Pain and pressure around the eyes and nose, fever, drainage, and congestion

• Who gets it: Sinus infections are more common in adults than in children. Pneumococcus is a common cause and may contribute to up to 35% of sinus infections.

Meningitis

• What is it: An infection of the leptomeninges, or the tissue surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Meningitis can be life-threatening, so getting immediate treatment is important.

• Symptoms: Fever, confusion, headache, and neck stiffness

• Who gets it: Pneumococcal meningitis usually occurs in very young children and older adults. In the U.S., pneumococcus is the most common cause of bacterial meningitis in children under age 5.

Bacteremia

These infections can also be caused by other bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Pneumococcus, the pneumococcal vaccines, is only one cause.

Ingredients In Menb Vaccines

Meningitis B vaccines, like Bexero and Trumenba, are made up of three proteins found on the surface of one subtype of the Neisseria meningitidis bacteria. The specific proteins differ, depending on whether you receive Bexsero or Trumenba.

These vaccine contains very small amounts of other ingredients, like aluminum hydroxide, sucrose , histidine , and sodium chloride .

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Why The Cdc Recommends Meningococcal Vaccination

Neisseria meningitidis can linger within the nasal cavity without causing disease in some people. Older estimates provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest that about 10% of the general population carries the bacteria.

Generally, this bacteria can spread quickly when people are in close contact with one another. Thats especially true in group living situations, or among people who are intimate .

If someone is unprotected from the disease, it can go on to cause extremely severe illness or even death. About 10% to 15% of people with bacterial meningitis die. One in 5 may have permanent disabilities afterward, like hearing issues, brain and kidney damage, or limb amputation.

What Are The Risks Of Gbs With The Mcv4 Vaccine

Between 2005 and 2012, more than 18 million doses of MCV4 were distributed. It’s uncertain how many of those have actually been given. In that same time period, there have been 99 confirmed cases of GBS, a serious nervous system disorder, reported within six weeks of the vaccine being taken. There is not enough data at this time to tell whether or not the vaccine was a factor. But analysis of the data suggests that the incidence of GBS is no higher for people receiving the vaccine than the incidence of GBS in the general population.

Still, the timing of the onset of symptoms has raised concern. The CDC is continuing to study the issue and has recommended that people be told about the study when they are considering the vaccine. The current opinion is that even if there is a slight increase in the risk of GBS, it’s significantly outweighed by the risk of meningococcal disease without the vaccine.

Talk to your doctor if you have any further concerns about the vaccine and GBS.

Show Sources

Pediatrics, published online Feb. 1, 2011. CDC web site: “Meningitis Questions & Answers,” “Meningococcal Vaccines: What You Need to Know,” “Meningococcal Vaccination,” “Vaccines and Preventable Diseases: Meningococcal: Who Needs to Be Vaccinated?” “Meningococcal vaccine side-effects,” “GBS and Menactra Meningococcal Vaccine.”

VaccineInformation.org: “Meningococcal Disease Vaccine.”

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What Are The Side Effects Of Meningococcal Vaccines

Mild side effects happen in about half those who get the vaccine. They may include redness or pain where the skin was injected. These side effects last no longer than 1 or 2 days.

Serious side effects are rare and can include high fever, weakness, and changes in behavior.

Severe allergic reactions may happen within minutes or hours of having the vaccination. These are signs of an allergic reaction:

Meningococcal Vaccine: Canadian Immunization Guide

For health professionals

• Next Page

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

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Guidance On Reporting Adverse Events Following Immunization

To ensure the ongoing safety of vaccines in Canada, reporting of AEFIs by vaccine providers and other clinicians is critical, and in some jurisdictions, reporting is mandatory under the law.

Vaccine providers are asked to report AEFIs, through local public health officials, and to check for specific AEFI reporting requirements in their province or territory. In general, any serious or unexpected adverse event felt to be temporally related to vaccination should be reported.

For additional information about AEFI reporting, please refer to Adverse events following immunization. For general vaccine safety information, refer to Vaccine safety and pharmacovigilance in Part 2.

A Look At Each Vaccine: Haemophilus Influenzae Type B Vaccine

Older pediatricians understand the value of the Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine. They watched this vaccine, first introduced in the early 1990s, virtually eliminate a disease that affected about 20,000 children every year in the United States. Three to four doses of this vaccine are recommended for all children between 2 and 15 months of age.

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What Is Meningitis B

While its not very common, if you get meningococcal B, it is a nasty disease, Litjen Tan, MD, chief strategy officer at the Immunization Action Coalition , tells Health. The IAC is a national nonprofit authority on vaccination policies that aims to increase immunization rates.

Meningitis B is more prevalent among 18 to 24-year-old college students than kids and adults in other age groups that’s because it’s easier for infections to spread among young adults living in cramped living quarters, such as dorms. Symptoms of the disease include sudden high fever, stiff neck, severe headache, nausea, and vomiting, as well as convulsions, rapid breathing, and confusion. A dark purple rash will usually appear on the arms, legs, or torso, too.

Part of what makes meningitis B so deadly is that many students and parents dont know about it, and many symptoms mimic those of more common illnesses, such as the flu. It wouldnt be unreasonable for a college student to assume they had the flu and then try to sleep off some of the symptoms. But if they actually have meningitis B and try that approach, theres a good chance the illness will overcome them and turn fatal.

Kimberly was perfectly healthy. Sitting in her classroom. Next day shes in the ICU fighting for her life, Wukovits recalls.

Stillman echos her heartbreak. People think so rare. But when its your child, 100% of that child just died. It doesnt matter what the statistics are, she says.

Ingredients In Menacwy Vaccines

Menactra, MenQuadfi, and Menveo are all made through a process which chemically links a protein recognized by the immune system with a sugar molecule found on the surface of certain types of Neisseria meningitidis.

Usually, those polysaccharides are hard for the immune system to spot, but when theyre linked to proteins the immune system recognizes, your body learns to mount a response to it. These vaccines are called conjugate vaccines.

Importantly, each one of these vaccines contains polysaccharides from four different serogroups of Neisseria meningitidis.That allows the vaccine to protect you against four different subgroups of bacteria.

These vaccines do not contain preservatives or adjuvants .

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An Ounce Of Prevention Is Worth A Pound Of Cure

In the 1940s all of the strains of pneumococcus could be treated with the antibiotic, penicillin. However, over time many pneumococcal strains have become resistant not only to penicillin, but also to other antibiotics developed to combat bacterial infections. Resistance means that bacteria have changed, or evolved, so that they are no longer killed by one or more antibiotics. As a result, treatment with those antibiotics is not effective against those resistant strains.

Strains of pneumococcus have now been identified that are highly resistant to most antibiotics. Our reliance on and overuse of antibiotics have led to this resistance, backing us into a corner when treating infections caused by these and other types of bacteria. Unfortunately, we have taken our first steps into a post-antibiotic era. This makes the use of vaccines all the more important.

Before Taking This Medicine

You may not be able to receive Menactra if you’ve ever had an allergic reaction to a meningococcal, diphtheria, or tetanus vaccine.

Menactra may need to be postponed or not given at all if you have:

• a severe illness with a fever or any type of infection

• a weak immune system caused by disease or by using certain medicine

• a history of Guillain-Barré syndrome or

• a history of premature birth.

You can still receive a vaccine if you’ve a minor cold.

Your doctor should determine whether you need Menactra during pregnancy or while breastfeeding.

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What Are The Pneumonia Vaccines

There are two FDA-approved vaccines that protect against pneumonia:

• 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, or PCV13

• 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine, or PPSV23

These immunizations are called pneumonia vaccines because they prevent pneumonia, which is an infection in the lungs. They are also known as pneumococcal vaccines because they protect against a bacteria called Streptococcus pneumoniae, or pneumococcus. Although there are many viruses, bacteria, and fungi that cause pneumonia, pneumococcus is the most common cause. Pneumococcus can also cause infections in other parts of the body.

Prospects For The Future

Advances in meningococcal vaccine development over the past 1015 years have been impressive, both in the U.S. and globally. In the U.S. we now have both conjugate vaccines that can be given to infants and novel capsular group B vaccines. However, there are opportunities for improved meningococcal vaccines for the U.S. First, the holy grail of meningococcal vaccines in the U.S. is a product that covers all relevant capsular groups, namely a pentavalent product for groups A, B, C, W, and Y, and can be given to infants, the group with the highest risk of meningococcal infection such vaccines are currently being studied. In addition, data on immunogenicity and antibody persistence suggest that improved capsular group B vaccines could be developed. One approach is mutant FHbp that binds less to human factor H yet retains its key epitopes,171 which has the potential to enhance the immunogenicity and hopefully the duration of protection of the capsular group B vaccines. That said, the future of meningococcal vaccine development and utilization in the U.S. will ultimately depend at least in part on the ever-changing epidemiology of this highly dynamic disease.

Tone Tønjum, Jos van Putten, in, 2017

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Meningococcal B Vaccine: Frequently Asked Questions

In June 2015, the U. S. Advisory Committee on Immunizations Practices provided a category B recommendation for both Men B vaccines, making the vaccine appropriate for individual clinical decision-making:

A serogroup B meningococcal vaccine series may be administered to adolescents and young adults 16 through 23 years of age to provide short term protection against most strains of serogroup B meningococcal disease. The preferred age for Men B vaccination is 16 through 18 years of age.3,4

This is not a category A or âroutineâ recommendation, so many health care providers and patients have questions about the vaccine. Below is a list of frequently asked questions that may assist with decision-making:

Should low risk patients aged 16 to 23 be advised to get one of the new Men B vaccines? There is no clear answer to that question. Persons aged 16 to 23 are at an increased risk of contracting meningococcal infections. However, the incidence of Men B disease is low and seems to be getting lower. There is limited information about the clinical efficacy and safety of the vaccines. This is one of the reasons the ACIP gave this recommendation a B rather than an A rating.3,4

Will immunizing populations decrease carriage of the meningococcal B bacteria? So far, limited studies have not shown a decrease of asymptomatic carriage in immunized populations. More studies are planned.4

Where can I get more information? More information is available at the CDC/ACIP website.

Meningococcal Vaccine Current Recommendations

Meningococcal vaccine is recommended for the following groups: routinely for young adolescents or at high school entry persons at increased risk such as college freshmen living in dormitories, military recruits, microbiologists exposed to N. meningitidis, travelers to or residence in hyperendemic or epidemic areas of the world, persons with terminal complement component deficiency or asplenia, and during meningococcal outbreaks.

Vaccination for adults 2055 years is not routinely recommended. On another note, HIV-infected persons are at slightly increased risk of meningococcal infections. However, there are limited data regarding the efficacy of the vaccine in this population. Hence, only patients who wish to be vaccinated can be given the vaccine.

Benedikte-Noël Cuppers, Christof Schaefer, in, 2015

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Global Public Health Response Elimination Of Meningococcal A Meningitis Epidemics In The African Meningitis Belt

In the African meningitis belt, meningococcus serogroup A accounted for 8085% of meningitis epidemics before the introduction of a meningococcal A conjugate vaccine through mass preventive campaigns and into routine immunization programmes . As of April 2021, 24 of the 26 countries in the meningitis belt have conducted mass preventive campaigns targeting 1-29 year olds , and half of them have introduced this vaccine into their national routine immunization schedules. Among vaccinated populations, incidence of serogroup A meningitis has declined by more than 99% – no serogroup A case has been confirmed since 2017. Continuing introduction into routine immunization programmes and maintaining high coverage is critical to avoid the resurgence of epidemics.

Cases of meningitis and outbreaks due to other meningococcal serogroups, apart from serogroup B, continue to strike. The roll out of multivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccines is a public health priority to eliminate bacterial meningitis epidemics in the African Meningitis Belt.

Pneumococcus

The pneumococcus has over 97 serotypes, 23 causing most disease.

Haemophilus influenzae

Haemophilus influenzae has 6 serotypes, serotype b causing most meningitis.

• Conjugate vaccines protect specifically against Haemophilus influenzae serotype b . They are highly effective in preventing Hib disease and are recommended for routine use in infant vaccine schedules.

Group B streptococcus

Risks And Possible Side Effects

The shot has a few risks. Side effects are usually mild and go away within a few days. They may include:

• Soreness and swelling at the site of the injection
• Nausea
• Fever or chills
• Rare allergic reactions

You can take over-the-counter pain medicine to ease any pain and swelling after you get the shot.

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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.

Serogroup B Meningococcal Or Menb Vaccines

GlaxoSmithKline formulates each 0.5-mL dose of Bexsero® to contain:

• 50 µg each of recombinant proteins Neisserial adhesin A , Neisserial Heparin Binding Antigen , and factor H binding protein
• 25 µg of Outer Membrane Vesicles
• 5 milligrams aluminum hydroxide
• 125 mg sodium chloride
• 10 mg sucrose at pH 6.4 6.7

Each dose contains less than 0.01 µg kanamycin .

Pfizer formulates each 0.5-mL dose of Trumenba® to contain:

• 60 µg each of 2 lipidated fHBP variants
• 0.018 mg of polysorbate 80
• 0.25 mg of Al³+
• 10 millimolar histidine buffered saline at pH 6.0

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Can The Meningococcal Vaccine Cause Meningococcal Disease

The short answer is no. There are actually four meningococcal vaccines licensed in the U.S. None of the vaccines contains live bacteria.

The vaccines contain antigens — substances that trigger the body’s immune system and cause it to make antibodies. These antibodies then protect the body by attacking and killing the bacteria if it should invade your system.

The first vaccine — meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine or MPSV4 — was approved in 1978. It’s made with the antigens contained in the outer polysaccharide or sugar capsule that surrounds the bacterium.

The meningococcal conjugate vaccine or MCV4 was approved in 2005. It uses antigens taken from the polysaccharide capsule and then bound to a separate protein that targets the body’s immune cells. This makes it easier for the body’s immune system to see and recognize the antigens.

One type of MCV4, Menveo, is licensed for use in people ages 2 to 55. Another version, Menactra, is approved for those 9 months to 55 years old. MPSV4 is the only vaccine licensed for use in people over 55 as well as people 2 to 55. Both vaccines protect against four types of meningococcal disease.