NFID
Navigator Dorland's Rated - Best Healthcare Website

Meningitis

Overview

Meningococcal disease is a life-threatening infection that kills 10 to 14 percent of those infected [CDC 2005] and leaves 11 to 19 percent of survivors with permanent serious sequelae including hearing loss, cognitive impairment, renal failure or limb amputations. [CDC 2005, Kirsch 1996, Edwards 1981] Early symptoms of meningococcal disease may be non-specific and similar to more common and less serious illnesses (e.g., influenza) [Apicella 2000, Edwards 1981], but symptoms can progress very rapidly, killing an otherwise healthy young person in 48 hours or less. [Granoff 2004, Erickson 2001, Erickson 1998, Warren 2003] Clearly it is better to prevent meningococcal disease than to wait to treat it.

Vaccination Recommendations Expanded to Protect Adolescents and Young Adults

Following availability of the first conjugate meningococcal vaccine in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) broadened its meningococcal disease vaccination recommendations.[CDC 2005] The quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MCV4, Menactra ®) is recommended for routine vaccination of:

  • Adolescents at the 11- to 12-year-old health-care visit.
  • Adolescents at high-school entry (15 years of age), if not previously vaccinated with MCV4.
  • College freshmen living in dormitories, if not previously vaccinated with MCV4.
  • Other adolescents and college students who wish to decrease their risk for meningococcal disease.
  • Groups previously recommended for vaccination with the polysaccharide vaccine (e.g., person with asplenia, military recruits, certain international travelers).

STOP Meningitis!

S.T.O.P. Meningitis! is a program sponsored by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) in collaboration with several of the nation's leading medical and advocacy groups to provide helpful information to clinicians and other health care providers who care for pre-teens, adolescents and young adults. S.T.O.P. stands for Share. Teach. Outreach. Protect.

This program supports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations that call for routine immunization among pre-teens, adolescents and college-bound students to prevent meningococcal disease.

NFID collaborated with the American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics, American College Health Association, American College of Physicians, American Medical Association, Society for Adolescent Medicine and National Meningitis Association to develop this program.

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Active Bacterial Core Surveillance (ABCs), 2000-2004 Neisseria meningitidis surveillance reports. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/abcs/reports.htm. Accessed February 28, 2006.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Prevention and control of meningococcal disease: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). MMWR 2005;54(RR-7):1-21.

Edwards MS, Baker CJ. Complications and sequelae of meningococcal infections in children. J Pediatr 1981;99:540-545.

Erickson L, De Wals P. Complications and sequelae of meningococcal disease in Quebec, Canada, 1990-1994. Clin Infect Dis 1998;26:1159-1164.

Erickson LJ, De Wals P, McMahon J, Heim S. Complications of meningococcal disease in college students. Clin Infect Dis 2001;33:737-739.

Granoff DM, Feavers IM, Borrow R. Meningococcal Vaccines. In: Plotkin SA, Orenstein WA, eds. Vaccines. 4th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Elsevier Inc; 2004:959-987.

Kirsch EA, Barton P, Kitchen L, Giroir BP. Pathophysiology, treatment, and outcome of meningococcemia: A review and recent experience. Pediatr Infect Dis J 1996;15:967-979.

Warren HS Jr, Gonzalez RG, Tian D. Case 38-2003: A 12-year-old girl with fever and coma. N Engl J Med 2003;249:2341-2349.