A VACCINE has been developed against the last unpreventable strain of bacterial meningitis, which affects hundreds of Australians each year and can be life-threatening.
Children are vaccinated against meningococcal C but there is no vaccine against the B strain, which is the most deadly type and can kill in less than four hours. A total of 182 cases of meningococcal B were recorded in Australia last year, and 174 in 2010. It caused eight deaths in 2009, the most recent year for which national figures were available, when there were 198 recorded cases.
Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital infectious diseases physician Jim Buttery said a safe and effective vaccine for meningococcal B would be a significant development particularly for children under two and teenagers, who were most at risk.
''This has been one of the real challenges for vaccine researchers for a long time,'' he said.
''Compared to the other meningococcal groups, the sugar on the outside of the bug is close to sugar in the human brain, so it can be hard for the human immune system to form immunity against it.
''These new vaccines represent a major step forward, and are the first to show real promise.''
Dr Buttery said the bug was commonly found in the nose and throat but could cause an invasive infection in people without sufficient immunity.
Findings published in British medical journal The Lancet show a meningococcal B vaccine tested in toddlers, teenagers and adults was highly effective and safe.
The vaccine, called 4CMenB, was expected to be licensed for use in Europe in the next few months before being evaluated for inclusion on Britain's free vaccination list.
In Australia the vaccine would need to be registered by the Therapeutic Goods Administration before being separately recommended for the national immunisation program.
In the Lancet study, more than 1600 teenagers were given the vaccine or a placebo and 90 per cent showed immunity after one dose, rising to between 99 per cent and 100 per cent after two doses. Professors Maria Elena Santolaya and Miguel L. O'Ryan, from the University of Chile, who led the study, said it would be best to give two doses one and six months apart from two months. The study was funded by Novartis.
The 4CMenB vaccine has been developed differently to the meningitis C vaccine and the researchers said the technique raised the possibility of creating one vaccine against all meningitis strains. They wrote: ''Further clinical data to support such an exciting prospect are needed.''
Symptoms of meningitis include sudden onset of a high fever, a severe headache, aversion to bright lights, vomiting, painful joints, fitting, and drowsiness that can deteriorate into a coma.
In babies the condition is harder to diagnose and symptoms include a fever while the hands and feet are cold, high-pitched moaning or whimpering, blank staring, inactivity, or being hard to wake, poor feeding, neck retraction and back arching, pale and blotchy complexion.
If the bacteria enters the bloodstream septicaemia can develop, causing the characteristic rash often associated with meningitis.
It may start as a cluster of pinprick blood spots under the skin, spreading to form bruises and can be distinguished by the fact that it does not fade when pressed under the bottom of a glass.
with the Telegraph, London
Email a friend