Sadly, in the United States (US) there is no vaccine for serogroup B meningococcal meningitis. This serogroup accounts for approximately 30% of the meningitis cases. Most of these cases are infants, however we do see some in adolescents.  Most of the cases reported in the US of older children, adolescents and young adults are caused from sero-group C and sometimes Y which are covered by the current vaccines on the US market.

We would like to make an attempt to explain why a vaccine to prevent this group is so difficult and is unfortunately along way from market in the US.

Vaccines have been developed for other serogroups of meningococcal disease by using the polysaccharide capsules (the bacteria’s outer coat), but for meningococcal B it has not been that simple.

The major problem is that the bacteria resembles a neural cell adhesion molecule in the developing brain.

 This raises 2 issues:

1. We are naturally tolerant to this antigen – possibly wouldn’t recognise this as a foreign body. The immune system is fooled!
2. It may provoke an autoimmunity whereby the body mounts a response against the antigen and in so doing, also destroy developing neural cells

Basically, any vaccine produced from the outer coat wouldn’t work for Meningococcal B, either the immune system would ignore it or it would start attacking the body’s own cells.

So, now researchers are looking at the next point of contact in the bacterial cell – which is the outer membrane proteins (OMPs). But, because there are lots of different strains of Meningococcal B we need to find an OMP in the bacteria that is common to all strains. Several pharmaceuticall companies are currently conducting clinical trials looking at a specific lipoprotein in the outer membrane of the bacteria.

The results to date are looking promising in the Phase 1 and 2 trials in humans  in Perth/Australia. For the first time, this is a Group B vaccine that elicits protective antibodies against a number of different Meningococcal B strains. The early results from the adult trials reveal variations in the antibody response from the different dose rates that were evaluated for their safety, tolerability and effectiveness (20, 60 or 200 microgram dosage). So, we are still looking at what would be the optimal dose for the best antibody response.

Currently New Zealand and Cuba have a B vaccine but this vaccine would not work in the US.

Research is an ongoing process and it takes years for the development and refinement of a vaccine to get to the stage where it becomes part of the schedule. So, we are still a way off yet getting a licensed vaccine but progress is being made.

Though vaccine is the best prevention here are some other Preventions/Precautions  you can take:

Please note this is not to be taken as medical advice. You should always seek medical advice from a professional on this or any health or immunization subject.