Meningitis Vaccine Expected in a Year

A new vaccine for meningitis B, the strain against which there is currently no defense, is currently being tested.

According to experts, it will dramatically reduce the risk of children dying from the disease, reports the Daily Mail.

Meningitis - Causes - Symptoms - Diagnosis - Treatment - FAQs
Meninges are the three layers of membrane that cover the brain and infection of the cerebrospinal fluid between them causes meningitis the disease of the meninges.

Meningococcal B is the most common form of bacterial meningitis in UK and one of the most deadly, in some cases killing in a few hours.

Although vaccination programmes have been successfully introduced to combat pneumococcal meningitis and the strains C and Hib, no B vaccine currently exists in this country.

Bexsero is the first vaccine providing broad protection against 800 deadly, disease-circulating meningococcal B strains and could be available as soon as next year.

Hib Vaccine - Types, Dosage Schedule, Contraindications and Side Effects
The Hib vaccine protects children against infections like meningitis and pneumonia that are caused by the Haemophilus influenzae type b bacterium.

Results from 7,500 children, adolescents and adults taking part in trials show they produced antibodies against 77 per cent of these strains.

Teams from the Health Protection Agency have helped to test the jab, developed by Novartis.

Vaccines Against Pneumonia, Meningitis Possible After New Breakthroughs
A new breakthrough in the fight against pneumonia, meningitis and septicaemia has been made possible through a finding by scientists in Dublin and Leicester.

It is likely to be approved in the next few months, paving the way for inclusion in the childhood immunisation programme.

The vaccine was developed using so-called 'reverse vaccinology', decoding the genome sequence of meningitis B and selecting proteins most likely to be broadly-effective vaccine candidates.

Hope in Fight Against Meningitis Via New Affordable Vaccine
Scientists have developed a new vaccine, which promises to give its receivers protection against the meningococcal bacterium Neisseria meningitidis.

Source-ANI