Notice to Readers
Availability of Meningococcal Vaccine in Single-Dose Vials for
Travelers and High-Risk Persons
The Food and Drug Administration has approved a single-dose
vial of quadrivalent polysaccharide vaccine against Neisseria
meningitidis serogroups A, C, Y, and W135. The single-dose vial
replaces the previously available 10-dose vial, which, once
reconstituted, has a 5-day shelf life. This limitation is
obviated by the single-dose vial and should facilitate
administration to persons at high risk.
Immunization is recommended for persons with anatomic or
functional asplenia and deficiencies of the terminal components
of the complement system. Additionally, travelers to areas with
hyperendemic or epidemic meningococcal disease should be
immunized (1). Updated travel advisories can be obtained from
travelers' clinics, county and state health departments, and CDC.
The vaccine is not recommended for routine use in the United
States for three reasons: 1) meningococcal disease is infrequent
(approximately 3000 cases per year); 2) no vaccine exists for
serogroup B, which accounts for about 50% of cases in the United
States; and 3) vaccine is not efficacious against group C disease
in children less than 2 years of age (2). This age group
accounts for 28% of the group C cases in the United States (CDC,
unpublished data).
In adults, the protective efficacy of the vaccine is 85%-95%
for disease caused by serogroups A or C (3,4). Efficacy data are
not available for serogroups Y and W135, but the vaccine is
immunogenic for both of these serogroups (5-7). Side effects of
the vaccine are mild and infrequent, consisting primarily of
erythema and induration at the site of injection and low-grade
fever. Protective immunity is achieved 10-14 days after
vaccination.
The new single-dose tetravalent vaccine is available from local
distributors or Connaught Laboratories, Inc., A Pasteur Merieux
Company (telephone (800) 822-2463). Physicians are encouraged to
report all cases of meningococcal disease to their local and
state health departments.
Reported by: Meningitis and Special Pathogens Br, Div of
Bacterial Diseases, Center for Infectious Diseases, CDC.
References
ACIP. Meningococcal vaccines. MMWR 1985;34:255-9.
Taunay A de E, Galvao PA, de Morais JS, Gotschlich EC, Feldman
RA. Disease prevention by meningococcal serogroup C
polysaccharide vaccine in preschool children: results after
eleven months in Sao Paulo, Brazil (Abstract). Pediatr Res
1974;8:429.
Makela PH, Kayhty H, Weckstrom P, Sivonen A, Renkonen OV.
Effect of group A meningococcal vaccine in army recruits in
Finland. Lancet 1975;2:883-6.
Artenstein MS, Gold R, Zimmerly JG, Wyle FA, Schneider H,
Harkins C. Prevention of meningococcal disease by group C
polysaccharide vaccine. N Engl J Med 1970;282:417-20.
Hankins WA, Gwaltney JM, Hendley JO, Farquhar JD, Samuelson
JS. Clinical and serological evaluation of a meningococcal
polysaccharide vaccine groups A, C, Y, W135 (41306). Proc Soc Exp
Biol Med 1982;169:54-7.
Armand J, Arminjon F, Mynard MC, Lafaix C. Tetravalent
meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine groups A, C, Y, W135:
clinical and serological evaluation. J Biol Stand 1982;10:335-9.
Griffiss M, Brandt BL, Altieri PL, Pier GB, Berman S. Safety
and immunogenicity of group Y and group W135 meningococcal
capsular polysaccharide vaccines in adults. Infect Immun
1981;34:725-32.
Disclaimer
All MMWR HTML documents published before January 1993 are electronic conversions from ASCII text into HTML. This conversion may have resulted in character translation or format errors in the HTML version. Users should not rely on this HTML document, but are referred to the original MMWR paper copy for the official text, figures, and tables. An original paper copy of this issue can be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), Washington, DC 20402-9371; telephone: (202) 512-1800. Contact GPO for current prices.
**Questions or messages regarding errors in formatting should be addressed to mmwrq@cdc.gov.
