Meningitis B Vaccine Falls Short of Expectations

Meningitis B Vaccine Falls Short of Expectations

1 in 3 students didn't get immunity against outbreak strain after 2 doses of Bexsero, study finds

WebMD News from HealthDay

By Karen Pallarito

HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, July 20, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- About one-third of Princeton University students given a vaccine to combat a meningitis B outbreak on campus in 2013 didn't show signs of protection from the immunization, researchers reported.

However, none of the vaccinated students developed a meningitis infection, the study found.

It was the first-ever use of the meningococcal group B vaccine Bexsero (4CMenB) in the United States. Two-thirds of those who got the vaccine did develop evidence of an immune response against the specific strain that caused the outbreak, the study authors said.

But researchers had expected a better response since the outbreak strain was very similar to the strains used to produce the vaccine.

"No vaccine's 100 percent," said Dr. Dan Granoff, of UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland, who wasn't involved in the study.

But in this case, blood samples revealed that 34 percent of the students who received the two doses had no evidence of antibodies to the disease, he observed.

"You would expect something like 10 or 15 percent, so it was about double," said Granoff. He's the chair and director of the Center for Immunology and Vaccine Development at the hospital's research institute.

According to the study's lead author, Nicole Basta, the results indicate "that we need to go further to understand how broadly protective this vaccine might be against the diversity of strains that can cause meningococcal disease, and especially meningococcal outbreaks." Basta is an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health in Minneapolis.

The meningitis B (MenB) outbreak at Princeton, in New Jersey, occurred between March 2013 and March 2014, the researchers said. There were nine cases of disease, including one death.

Bacterial meningitis is a rare but potentially deadly infection of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). Symptoms include sudden onset of fever, headache and neck stiffness. The disease is spread via respiratory and throat secretions.

College students are among those at greater risk of infection because they live in close contact in dorms and engage in potentially risky behaviors, such as sharing drinks and cigarettes. People diagnosed with bacterial meningitis require immediate treatment with antibiotics, the NIH advises.

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