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Pneumococcal Meningitis Vaccinations (meningitis immunisation) are now Available from the UK's leading MMR clinic!
Your child’s Red Book will indicate that they have already received Meningitis C vaccination. This new vaccine is completely different as it protects against the deadly Pneumococcal Meningitis and should not be confused with Meningitis C. Here are some answers for some of the most commonly asked questions. This will assist you in deciding whether you need to take additional steps to protect your children aged 2 and over, who will not be included in the NHS scheme.
Literally, Meningitis means swelling of the meninges, which are the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. It can be caused either by viral infection or bacterial infection. Several different bacteria can cause the condition and this is why there is more than one vaccine.
Bacterial Meningitis is a very serious condition, fatal in around 20% of cases. A further 25% of those who survive suffer life changing side effects, including brain damage, loss of limbs (due to blood poisoning), deafness and epilepsy.
Meningitis can strike at any time through childhood or adulthood, although statistically it is most common amongst the under 5’s and 15-19 age group.
Viral infection is the most common cause of Meningitis, although fortunately the less severe. Currently, no preventative treatment is available for viral Meningitis. In 1999, a Meningitis ‘Type C’ was introduced to protect against the Meningococcal Type C bacterium. If your child is under 7, they should have routinely received this.
Currently, they have no child immunization protection against Pneumococcal Meningitis, which is now the second most common type and accounts for over 5,000 serious infections each year. This is the strain the new vaccination programme is designed to prevent. However it will only be available to under 2’s.
The government is not prepared to fund a ‘catch up’ meningitis immunisation programme for children aged over 24 months. Its response is that as immunity levels build up in the community because more babies are being immunised, so the incidence of Pneumococcal Meningitis will decrease overtime (a few years). If the disease becomes less common, older children that are not immunised will stand less chance of catching it. However without children immunization, this status, known as ‘herd immunity’, takes time to achieve and makes no provision for the short term.
The Children’s Immunisation Centre is once again plugging the gap left by the NHS. In addition to being one of the UK's leading network of MMR clinic's, we have been offering Pneumococcal Meningitis jabs (meningitis immunisation) for some time and will continue to do so to provide peace of mind for parents of those not included in the government scheme. For Meningitis in particular, children immunization prevention rather than treatment is critical, as the condition progresses rapidly and early symptoms can easily be confused with common coughs and colds.
Child immunization: Requirements for 2-5 year olds
The meningitis immunisation vaccine for under 5’s is ‘Prevenar’, which is exactly the same as that used by the NHS. Unlike infants, a single dose is sufficient, although child immunization protection should be reviewed once the child reaches 5.
Additional benefits of the jab include protection against pneumonia, blood poisoning and otitis media (middle ear infection), which a staggering 50% of under 5’s suffer from at some point.
Child immunization: Children aged 5 and over
The recommended meningitis immunisation vaccine is ‘Pneumovax’, which offers broader protection than Prevenar against Meningitis, plus other illnesses.
The cost of our Meningitis immunisation is £90 payable on the day. If your child is an existing client of the clinic, the usual £50 registration fee will also be waived. Requests for further information and bookings can be made through the clinic helplines.
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About the The Children’s Immunisation Centre: As the Uk's leading child immunization MMR clinic, since 2000 we have successfully vaccinated many children (given them single MMR Jabs), as part of our children immunization programme, whose parents had concerns regarding the safety of the MMR vaccination offered to them by their NHS GPs.
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