Meningococcal jabs miss mark

MANY Australian parents have taken up the federal Government’s offer of free vaccinations for children against the rare but deadly meningococcal disease.

MANY Australian parents have taken up the federal Government’s offer of free vaccinations for children against the rare but deadly meningococcal disease.But public health experts have questioned the value of the program.Funded by a $300 million campaign, the vaccine is targeted at the two age groups most vulnerable to the disease: 1-to-5-year-olds and 15-17-year-olds.Although the money comes from Canberra, state and territory governments are dispensing it via school clinics or council-run community health centres.Reports coming in from all over the country suggest take-up rates of the non-compulsory injection are as high as 76 per cent in some states, according to the federal Health Department.”We’re getting reports of some clinics vaccinating up to 350 children in a 90-minute session,” a spokesman said.But the vaccine’s popularity comes as no surprise to some health experts, who have questioned the alarmist publicity over the disease that led to the vaccine joining the list of free jabs available in Australia.Dr Tony Capon, of the Western Sydney Area Health Service, believes the decision was made in the heat of a public relations campaign and media frenzy that concentrated on the disease’s severest after-effects, including death, epilepsy, blindness, liver and kidney failure and loss of limbs.At the same time, the media jumped on every new meningococcal case reported last year, giving the impression that Australia was in the midst of an epidemic. Julie Green, community services co-ordinator of the Meningitis Foundation, said the phones were running hot last year with calls from terrified parents.”A lot were in a real panic,” she said. This year, the panic has given way to calls requesting more information about the vaccine, she said. Of the 1786 calls made to the foundation’s helpline since January, 45 per cent were vaccine-related.While the availability of a free vaccine has calmed parental nerves, it has thrown up another issue complacency. After vaccinating, some parents seem unaware that their child is not fully immune from all strains of the disease, she said. The vaccine currently in use only protects against the C-strain of the virus, which accounts for only 33 per cent of reported meningococcal cases compared with 52 per cent of cases caused by the B-strain.Professor Lyn Gilbert, director of microbiology at Westmead Hospital in Sydney, said immunising against only one strain might give people a false sense of security. “Group C is not the commonest cause of meningococcal disease the proportion varies in different parts of the country, but it usually causes between one-third and a half of cases,” she said.”Group C tends to be rather more virulent and the mortality is higher, but group B, generally the commonest, can also be nasty.”There is no vaccine available against group B, she said.Statistics show that it is not only the B strain, but another form of meningitis that is circulating far more widely in Australia. While there were 674 cases of meningococcal disease last year, Australia had a much higher incidence of pneumococcal disease, which claimed 2363 victims.While the Meningitis Foundation supports the meningococcal vaccinations, Ms Green points out that pneumococcal disease takes a higher toll on Australians.”If you get pneumococcal disease, you’ve only got a 55 per cent chance of making a full recovery, whereas with meningococcal meningitis, you’ve got a 75 per cent chance,” she said.The after-effects of pneumococcal disease, including permanent disability, were also worse, running at a rate of 30 per cent compared with only 15 per cent after meningococcal disease, she said.While a vaccine is available for both diseases, families who want protection from pneumococcal disease must pay for it.Both vaccines were recommended by the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, which gives regular advice to government on which vaccines are worthy of inclusion on the Australian immunisation schedule.Federal Health Minister Senator Kay Paterson has issued a statement to say the Government is considering ATAGI’s recommendation. (Source: The Australian, By Louise Pemble, August 16, 2003)