Pharmacies in England report surge in demand for meningitis jab | Meningitis

Pharmacies across England are reporting a surge in demand for meningitis vaccines after an outbreak in Kent claimed the lives of two young people and left others in hospital.

However, experts advise against rushing to get vaccinated, emphasizing that public health authorities are best placed to determine whether vaccinations are necessary – and for whom.

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) says 87% of 300 pharmacies responded to a snap survey, revealing a huge increase in requests for meningitis vaccines from concerned parents. These are usually only provided by pharmacies as part of travel services, but some pharmacies received 30 to 40 requests as of Tuesday morning. Additionally, some patients have attempted to prescribe antibiotics as a preventative measure.

“Pharmacies are receiving unprecedented demands for meningitis vaccines and many are unable to obtain supplies from wholesalers,” said Olivier Picard, president of the NPA.

The vaccine clamor follows an outbreak of invasive meningococcal disease in Canterbury which was confirmed to be caused by a B strain of meningococcal bacteria.

Currently, MenB vaccines that protect against certain B strains are offered to children aged eight weeks, 12 weeks and one year. However, the vaccine was only introduced in 2015, meaning young people heading off to university will not have been vaccinated – unless they paid for it privately. The full course costs £220, according to pharmacy chain Boots.

However, teenagers are offered the MenACWY vaccine, available on the NHS for people under 25 and which protects against four other groups of meningococcal bacteria.

Unlike the MenB vaccine, the MenACWY vaccine also protects against carriage of the bacteria, meaning high use among adolescents can essentially block transmission in the community.

Experts say the success of MenACWY has led to a decline in cases linked to these strains among young adults. MenB is the leading cause of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) in all age groups.

The situation has led a number of charities, organizations and parents to call for MenB vaccines to be made available to young people in the NHS.

A mother of a university student, who preferred to remain anonymous, said: “The government should offer the MenB vaccine to students attending all major institutions where the strain is now known to be the leading cause of IMD in all age groups. » At the very least, the government should make it clear that students are currently not being vaccinated, she added.

Amira Campbell, president of the National Union of Students (NUS), said there was simply not enough awareness about meningitis, particularly as young people headed to university.

“Meningitis vaccines should be offered to young people by the NHS – there should never be a financial barrier for life-saving vaccines. And until then, universities and colleges themselves should consider offering them to their students, because no lives should be lost to a preventable disease,” she said.

Professor Adam Finn, an expert in pediatric vaccinations at the University of Bristol, said it was “helpful” to vaccinate young people with the MenB vaccine privately before they went to university – even if protection was only partial and diminished over time.

But he said he would “strongly advise” people not to buy vaccines for their young adult children at this point.

“First of all, the two vaccines that exist, the ones that are available in the UK, do not cover all MenB diseases. [strains]. And it is not clear at this stage whether the strain causing this outbreak would actually be usefully prevented by the MenB vaccine,” he said.

Finn also noted that the protection offered by vaccinations could take several weeks to materialize – after which the current outbreak would be over.

“It’s much better, when faced with an outbreak like this, to have a coordinated response. And if it’s helpful to provide vaccination, you can be sure that public health authorities will do it. They will get the right vaccine and give it to the right people,” he said.

Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group at the University of Oxford, said the MenB vaccine had significantly reduced the rate of illness in young children and was cost-effective for the NHS in this age group.

But he added: “The vaccine is currently not offered to adolescents because the rate of illness is so low that vaccinating everyone would be expensive but would not prevent many cases and would not meet the cost-effectiveness rules used by the NHS. »

Pollard also warned against complacency over falling cases linked to other strains.

“The decline in MenACWY vaccine coverage among adolescents could allow these strains to return,” he said. “This recent outbreak reminds us of the importance of getting bitten.”