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.

Pandemic flu vaccine allocation plan released

Late last month, HHS and the Department of Homeland Security released its latest prioritization strategy for allocating limited vaccine doses in the early stages of a possible influenza pandemic. The report, "Guidance on Allocating and Targeting Pandemic Influenza Vaccine," (.pdf), incorporates public feedback and comments made in response to draft versions of the plan released over the past few years.

As the accompanying HHS press release notes, the general framework for the allocation strategy is based upon four primary objectives:

• Protect persons critical to the pandemic response and who provide care for persons with pandemic illness
• Protect persons who provide essential community services
• Protect persons who are at high risk of infection because of their occupation and
• Protect children
  

Here's coverage some CIDRAP News, including some unanswered questions and criticisms from infectious disease and public health experts. As the report itself acknowledges, a vaccine is only one part of a comprehensive response strategy for pandemic flu, and considerable challenges would be faced in implementing this or any vaccine allocation strategy consistently in the midst of a public health emergency.