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Life-Saving Jab: New Call for Teen Vaccines
17 Jul
Summary
- Adolescents may soon be routinely offered a meningitis B booster vaccine.
- The vaccine could protect against a disease with devastating complications.
- New JCVI recommendations await government approval for the UK schedule.
Health authorities are advocating for enhanced protection against meningitis B, a potentially deadly disease. New advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommends a routine meningitis B (MenB) booster vaccine for teenagers around age 15. This proposal aims to safeguard adolescents, who face an increased risk of invasive meningococcal disease during their teenage years and early adulthood.
The JCVI's recommendation follows several meningococcal B outbreaks in England. If approved by the Department of Health and Social Care, the new vaccination schedule would offer a single booster dose to teenagers born on or after May 1, 2015, who received the infant MenB vaccine. Older teenagers who missed the infant vaccination would be offered two doses.
Dr. Tom Nutt, chief executive of Meningitis Now, stressed the vaccine's safety and effectiveness, noting it can dramatically reduce the risk of severe disease. Meningitis can lead to life-changing complications such as amputations and brain injury within hours. The UK Health Security Agency confirms that while rare, invasive meningococcal disease can quickly become life-threatening, with early flu-like symptoms progressing rapidly.
