Parents in Ontario will soon be able to choose to have their children receive a meningococcal vaccine that protects against four strains of the dangerous bacteria, the provincial government will announce Monday.
As of September, the quadrivalent vaccine will be available to Grade 7 students receiving a recommended booster shot to protect against invasive meningococcal disease. The vaccine, made by Sanofi Pasteur, is sold under the name Menactra.
"This new vaccine will ensure that children in the province receive the best possible protection against this deadly disease," Dr. David Williams, Ontario's acting chief medical officer of health, said in a statement.
Invasive meningococcal disease is rare. From 1997 to 2007, an average of 67 cases was reported annually in Ontario. Nationally, about 235 cases are reported each year.
Despite the small numbers, it is a disease that strikes fear in the hearts of parents and public health officials. Its onset is rapid; a child can seem well at breakfast and fighting for life at suppertime.
The highest incidence is seen in infants less than one year of age, followed by children one to four years old. After that rates decline, peaking again among 15-to-19 year olds and 20-to-24 year olds.
The disease kills an estimated eight to 15 per cent of those who come down with it. And about 20 per cent of those who survive suffer serious consequences, including neurological damage, limb amputation and hearing loss.
Only two other provinces, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, have approved the more expensive vaccine for their provincially funded programs.
It protects against four serogroups of the bacterium neisseria meningitidis A, C, Y and W-135. Other vaccines on the market only protect against serogroup C, which is responsible for the majority of cases of invasive meningococcal disease in Canada.
The second more frequent culprit is serogroup B, but there is no vaccine licensed in Canada to protect against it.
When Menactra was first introduced in the Canadian market, the expert panel that advises provinces and territories on vaccine policy recommended against putting it on the list of publicly funded immunizations. The National Advisory Committee on Immunization NACI, as it is called said the additional strains included rarely cause disease in Canada.
But in a review on vaccination recommendations for invasive meningococcal disease issued in April, it recommended an adolescent booster shot for children immunized in early childhood. And it suggested provincial or territorial governments might want to offer Menactra for that booster shot, depending on the local pattern of disease and factors such as costs.
