All teens should be vaccinated against rare strain of meningitis

"A vaccination for meningitis is to be offered to all 14-18 year-olds in England and Wales, after a spike in a rare strain of the disease," The Guardian reports. The strain – meningitis W (MenW) – is described as rare, but life-threatening. There has been a year-on-year increase in the number of meningitis cases caused by MenW since 2009, and infection has been associated with particularly severe disease and high fatality rates in teenagers and young adults. The increasing trend looks set to continue unless action is taken, so the government’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the body that advises on vaccination for England and Wales, has advised that immunisation against MenW should be routinely offered to all 14 to 18 year-olds.   What is meningitis? Meningitis means inflammation (-itis) of the membrane (meninges) that covers the brain and spinal cord. It can be caused by infection with bacteria or viruses, but bacterial infection causes the most severe illness. The most common type of bacterial meningitis is meningococcal, caused by the bacteria Neisseria meningitidis. There are six main types of this bacterium – A, B, C, W, X and Y – with group B responsible for the majority of cases to date (over 90%). Meningitis can cause different symptoms in different people, including: fever with cold hands and feet vomiting severe headache stiff neck dislike of bright lights tiredness drowsiness co...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: QA articles Medication Pregnancy/child Source Type: news