The Push to End Meningitis Cases and outbreaks
in the interests of promoting a more robust speech about the importance of regular vaccinations for serious but preventable communicable diseases, MHA @ GW is hosting a series of client in honor of the national consciousness immunization Month (NIAM). Throughout the month of August, we present leaders of opinion pieces and advocates in the field who have been invited to write about the importance of vaccination in 2015. Learn more about the project in our after the introduction.
By Lynn Bozof, National Meningitis Association
[1945015millions] Vaccines have saved lives, but there is a life that they could not save - a life that will always in my heart. My son who lost his life because he has not been vaccinated.
My story started 17 years ago. Evan My son was a junior at Georgia Southwestern University, a pitcher for his college baseball team and in excellent health. One Wednesday morning in March, Evan called to say he had a terrible migraine headaches. When the symptoms got worse, I suggested he go to the emergency room. Hours later, he was in intensive care.
Evan had meningococcal meningitis, a multi-syllabic disease that kills quickly, mercilessly. For weeks, Evan struggled to fight infection. We were surrounded by doctors and medical teams. We clung to any indication that he might live. But one complication after another - very low blood pressure, damage to the lungs and liver, gangrene members followed by amputation of all his limbs, convulsions and finally, irreversible brain damage. Evan died 26 days after his first phone call to us.
Meningococcal disease, also known as bacterial meningitis, is hard to say, but easy to prevent with a vaccine. Meningitis kills 10 to 15 percent of people who get it. About 20 percent of those who survive will suffer serious long-term complications such as brain damage, hearing loss, loss of renal function or amputations.
When my son died, there was no routine recommendations for vaccination against meningococcus. Now, partly because of years of advocacy outreach groups and families, we have recommendations in place to protect adolescents and young adults. I personally am so happy every time a vaccine against meningococcus was recommended by the Centers for PreventionAdvisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) Disease Control. It does not change the course of my story, but it creates an opportunity to change history for you and many others.
There is an alphabet soup of meningococcal serogroups you need to know and be protected against. Serogroups A, C, W and Y are included in a vaccine, called quadrivalent vaccine. This vaccine is recommended as a routine vaccination for every 11 to 12 years and includes a booster dose at 16 years of
The other serogroup you should know about is serogroup B. Most of you heard about the recent outbreaks of meningococcal disease on college campuses (Princeton University, the University of California, Santa Barbara, Providence College, University of Oregon) and many other cases that were not part of an outbreak, but yet caused grief. These are all cases of serogroup B. It was not until late 2014 that a vaccine became available in the United States against serogroup B.
In June ACIP voted to give the vaccine serogroup B a permissive recommendation for ages 16 to 23. ACIP suggested that the preferred range of age for vaccination against meningococcal B is 16 to 18 years, but age 16-23 is fine. This recommendation allows older teens, young adults and parents to make a decision on vaccination in collaboration with their health care providers.
However, the only vaccines that save lives are those that are given. Even with a recommendation, it can be a challenge to ensure that everyone is protected. This is true for all vaccines, but especially true for meningococcal infection, where a vaccine alone is not enough to be fully protected.
As of 2013, about 20 percent of teens had still not received their first dose of meningococcal quadrivalent vaccine and about 70 percent of those who received the initial dose does not go back to the recall. We do not have data yet on serogroup B vaccination rates, but now it is up to parents to initiate discussions with health care providers to ensure that their children are protected against serogroup B. This absorption a challenge do.
to meet this challenge, it is necessary for continuing education on meningococcal disease and its prevention. In 02, I helped found the National Association Meningitis (NMA) with a handful of parents whose families experienced the devastating impact of meningococcal disease. We now have over 115 lawyers across the country, and when we tell our stories that people listen, they understand how it may affect their family or their patients and take action. NMA is proud to be making progress against the disease, but there is still more work to do.
At the national immunization during Awareness Month, as we celebrate the lives saved by vaccines, I want you to help us save more by educating others and get vaccinated against meningitis.
Lynn Bozof is a founding member and President of the NMA National Meningitis Association. For more information, visit NMA www.nmaus.org.
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