WSJ on meningococcal vaccine for adolescents

Today's Wall Street Journal has a story about meningococcal vaccine -- the cause of many cases of bacterial meningitis -- and the obstacles faced by efforts at vaccinating adolescents. The story, "Quelling a Killer: The Case For the Meningococcal Vaccine," uses the stories of a few victims of bacterial meningitis to illustrate the rapid and severe course of the rather rare disease in the U.S. Estimates vary, but the WSJ story says that 1,400 to 2,800 cases occur annually, roughly 10% of which are fatal.

Routine vaccination (with SanofiPasteur's Menactra) is recommended for all 11-12 year olds, many colleges and universities require vaccination for students living in dormitories (a high-risk group), and now states such as New Jersey are adding the vaccine to those required for school entrance. Despite these efforts, vaccination rates among recommended populations have ample room for improvement.

As these types of stories tend to do, the article includes back-to-back quotes from Paul Offit and Barbara Loe Fisher on the merits and possible concerns, respectively, associated with routine vaccination of adolescents.

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Speaking of the Wall Street Journal, a lengthy story appeared in July -- "Get Your Shots: Adults Need Vaccines, Too" -- detailing the growing number of vaccines recommended for another population, adults, for which awareness of vaccination efforts lags in comparison to pediatric vaccination programs.