More than 5,000 children will receive the meningococcal B (Bexsero) vaccine in Andalusia before the end of 2021 and, according to data from the Ministry of Health, next year this vaccine will allow some 65,000 children residing in Andalusia to be immunized. The inclusion of this vaccine has meant an investment in Public Health of 11 million euros.
Immunization against a pathogen that can be harmful will begin to be inoculated in Andalusia from December to infants born after October 1, 2021.
The 2022 vaccination scheduleIt has already been published by the Junta de Andalucia with the inclusion of the meningococcal B vaccine with a three-dose schedule (three months, four months and 15 months). This is one more step in the protection of the child population against an infection that can have dire consequences at an early age. To date, parents who have chosen to protect their children against meninococcus B have had to purchase this vaccine on the pharmaceutical market.
Andalusian vaccination
calendar This is how the childhood vaccination calendar remains , after the recent modification, in Andalusia:
The Balmis Vaccine Institute applauds the measure
The Balmis Vaccine Institute, as a scientific association, has highlighted, through a statement, the inclusion of the meningococcal B vaccine in the Andalusian vaccination schedule as a health milestone; and urges the rest of the communities to adopt the same measure.
The inclusion of this vaccine in the vaccination schedule is “a very important historical decision for the protection of children living in Andalusia against meningococcus B, the main cause of meningococcal disease in Spain “, explains Balmis.
Meningococcus is a bacterium that causes rare but very serious infections , such as meningitis and sepsis (blood infection), which can leave significant sequelae and even cause death in one in 10 cases.
Although this bacterium can infect people of any age, cases are more common in young children and adolescents and the best prevention is vaccination.
Meningococcal meningitis is a serious bacterial infection of the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord, which can cause severe brain damage and is fatal in 10% of cases. There are different bacteria that cause meningitis.
Neisseria meningiditis
Meningococcal meningitis is a serious bacterial infection of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord, which can cause severe brain damage and is fatal in 10% of cases. There are different bacteria that cause meningitis.
Neisseria meningitidisis one of them and 12 serotypes have been identified, five of which can cause epidemics (A, B, C, W135 and X). In Western countries, most cases of invasive disease are caused by serotypes B and C. The official childhood vaccination schedules have included protection against serotype C for years, which has considerably reduced infections by this germ.
The Andalusian calendar systematically includes the vaccine against the ACWY serotypes at 12 months and 14 years , although the first dose against meningitis C is administered at two months. Starting next year, the vaccine against meningococcus B will be added. In this way the protection against the most severe and frequent serotypes is completed.
The vaccine was released in 2015 and suffered shortages
The meningitis B vaccine was released on the pharmaceutical market in October 2015 . Until then, its use remained restricted at the hospital level in Spain.
After the liberalization of this vaccine, there was a strong demand from Spanish families interested in protecting their children against this infection, which led to worldwide shortages, a crisis that normalized a year later, once the laboratories involved in producing this vaccine (Novartis and GSK) managed to match supply and demand.
