Meningitis Vaccination Gets Go Ahead: All Babies Will Be Offered The New Vaccine

Whether you’re pro or anti vaccinating children, it’s good to know your options and get clued up on the newest vaccine on the block.   

After a year of discussion, the NHS has approved a new meningitis B jab, making Britain the first country worldwide to offer it. The Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, confirmed the news this weekend and added that it should be available by the end of the year.

“We can go ahead this year with rolling out the meningitis B vaccine and that’s something families, particularly those with young children, will really welcome,” says Jeremy Hunt.

The vaccine, called Bexsero, costs £20 a time, will be available on the NHS – coming to a total of £16 million. It’s the price that’s been the reason for the delay on approving the vaccine in the UK, after over a year of debate.

Up until now, it wasn’t deemed cost-effective and the government have been wangling a cheaper price. But finally it’s all been sorted and will soon be available to babies aged two months old, with boosters at four months and 12 months.

GPs will probably give the new vaccine in with the five-in-one jab and the rotavirus oral vaccination. You can view the NHS’ full childhood vaccination schedule here.

What Is Meningitis B?
According to the NHS website, Meningococcal group B bacteria is a “serious cause of life-threatening meningitis and septicaemia (blood poisoning) and the leading infectious killer of young children in the UK.”

It affects around 1,200 people, usually babies and children, in the UK each year – and around one in 10 die from the infection. It can also cause brain damage, limb loss and epilepsy.

Many health professionals and UK charities are supporting the new vaccination and urging parents to consider it.

“To know that babies will be protected is fantastic and another great step forward in our fight against meningitis,” says Sue Davie, from Meningitis Now.

And Dr David Elliman, a consultant in Community Child Health at the Whittington Health NHS Trust, says, “It is great news. The vaccine will mean the numbers of children suffering this terrible illness will be further reduced.”

Will you take your baby for the new vaccine, once it becomes available? Let us know in the comments.

[Kristen Bell Weighs In On Vaccination Debate: “I Believe In Trusting Doctors, Not Know-It-Alls”]

[Vaccinations To Be Compulsory For Children Attending Nursery In Two Australian States]