Vaccines and Preventable Diseases:

Factsheet: Meningococcal Disease and Meningococcal Vaccine
(April 2, 2013)

Disease

• Invasive meningococcal disease occurs in three common clinical forms: meningitis (50% of cases), blood infection (30%) and pneumonia (10%); other forms account for the remainder (10%) of the cases.
• Onset can be abrupt and course of disease rapid.
• Case fatality ratio is 10%-15%; 11%-19% of survivors suffer serious sequelae (a condition caused by previous disease) including neurologic disability, limb or digit loss, and hearing loss.

Epidemiology

• Rates highest in infancy with second peak in adolescence (see graph below) with the peak around 18 years of age
• Annually, about 800–1,200 cases of invasive meningococcal disease occur in the US.
  • 21% of cases occurs among adolescents and young adults ages 14–24
  • 14% of cases occurs among infants under 1 year of age
• College freshmen living in dormitories are at higher risk than general population of similar age
• Most cases are sporadic (98%); a minority is associated with outbreaks (2%)
• Disease is seasonal, with cases peaking in December and January.

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Causative Bacteria

• Meningococci are carried only by humans in the nasopharynx—their only reservoir
  • Overall 5%-10% of the population carries the bacteria
  • Adolescents and young adults have the highest carriage rates
  • Few carriers develop disease
• Transmission occurs when close, face-to-face contact permits the exchange of salivary secretions from people who are ill or are carriers
• Worldwide, the vast majority of disease is caused by 5 serogroups (A, B, C, Y, W-135) of the bacterium
• In the United States, almost all cases are caused by serogroups B, C and Y; there is currently no licensed vaccine that protects against serogroup B in the U.S.

The Vaccines

• Quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccines are licensed in the United States for persons 9 months–55 years of age
  • Covers Serogroups A, C, Y and W-135
• Included in the Vaccines for Children (VFC) Program
• Cost to private sector per dose: $100.00-$110.00
• See MCV4 recommendations for who should be vaccinated
• Bivalent meningococcal along with Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) conjugate vaccine is licensed for infants 6 weeks-18 months of age
  • Covers serogroups C and Y only
  • Included in the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program for those at high-risk

• Licensed in 1981
• Recommendations for use: MPSV4 is recommended for individuals who are at elevated risk aged over 55 years (see MCV4 recommendations for list of groups at elevated risk)

Additional Sources of Information

• Recommendations from the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP)
• Publications and Multimedia for Meningococcal Disease

 Return to main Meningococcal Vaccination page

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