Meningococcal Vaccine

Meningococcal vaccine refers to any vaccine used to prevent infection by Neisseria meningitidis, with different versions effective against some or all of the meningococcus types A, B, C, W-135 and Y. The vaccines are between 85 and 100 percent effective for at least two years and result in a decrease in meningitis and sepsis among populations where they are widely used. The first meningococcal vaccine became available in the 1970s, and following the 1997 outbreak in Nigeria the World Health Organization, Medecins Sans Frontieres and other groups created the International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision for Epidemic Meningitis Control to manage the global response to outbreaks. In the African meningitis belt, efforts continue to immunize all people between the ages of one and thirty with the meningococcal A conjugate vaccine, and it is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines.