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| Government rejects calls for meningitis B vaccine for all children | Government rejects calls for meningitis B vaccine for all children |
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| The government has rejected calls for all children up to the age of 11 to be given the meningitis B vaccine, despite a petition signed by more than 800,000 people following the death of two year-old Faye Burdett. | |
| In a response posted on the petition website, the Department of Health said it would not be cost-effective to give the vaccine to children outside the highest-risk groups – infants who are offered it at two and four months, followed by a booster at 12 months. | In a response posted on the petition website, the Department of Health said it would not be cost-effective to give the vaccine to children outside the highest-risk groups – infants who are offered it at two and four months, followed by a booster at 12 months. |
| The department was following the advice of its scientific advisers at the Joint Committee on Vaccines and Immunisation (JCVI), it said. “There is a duty on the secretary of state for health to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the recommendations of the JCVI, are implemented,” said the statement. | The department was following the advice of its scientific advisers at the Joint Committee on Vaccines and Immunisation (JCVI), it said. “There is a duty on the secretary of state for health to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the recommendations of the JCVI, are implemented,” said the statement. |
| “Our priority is to protect those children most at risk of MenB, in line with JCVI’s recommendation. The NHS budget is a finite resource. It is therefore essential that JCVI’s recommendations are underpinned by evidence of cost-effectiveness. Offering the vaccine outside of JCVI’s advice would not be cost-effective, and would not therefore represent a good use of NHS resources which should be used to benefit the health and care of the most people possible.” | “Our priority is to protect those children most at risk of MenB, in line with JCVI’s recommendation. The NHS budget is a finite resource. It is therefore essential that JCVI’s recommendations are underpinned by evidence of cost-effectiveness. Offering the vaccine outside of JCVI’s advice would not be cost-effective, and would not therefore represent a good use of NHS resources which should be used to benefit the health and care of the most people possible.” |
| Related: If you knew my son, you’d sign the petition for a meningitis B vaccination | Claire Shala | Related: If you knew my son, you’d sign the petition for a meningitis B vaccination | Claire Shala |
| The clamour for all children to be vaccinated was triggered by the decision of the parents of Faye Burdett to post pictures of their daughter before she contracted meningitis B and as she struggled with septicaemia in hospital as a result of it. | The clamour for all children to be vaccinated was triggered by the decision of the parents of Faye Burdett to post pictures of their daughter before she contracted meningitis B and as she struggled with septicaemia in hospital as a result of it. |
| It was heightened by ex-England rugby captain Matt Dawson, who told how his two-year-old son, Sam, battled and survived meningitis C - for which there is a successful vaccine that has brought the numbers of cases down dramatically. | |
| At prime minister’s questions on Wednesday, the backbench Tory MP Helen Whately asked David Cameron what the government was doing to respond to the campaign. | |
| After extending his condolences to the parents of Faye Burdett, Cameron pointed out that the UK was the first country in the world to have a vaccination programme. He said that the advice was to target vaccination at younger children and that of 276 children who contracted the disease, more than 100 were under one year old. | |
| “I think we need to look at all the evidence carefully as do the expert bodies that advise us,” he said. | “I think we need to look at all the evidence carefully as do the expert bodies that advise us,” he said. |
| The JCVI, in its decision in March 2014, said the meningitis B vaccine, Bexsero, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), would only be cost-effective for the youngest babies – and even then only just. In 2011-12 there were 613 laboratory-confirmed cases of meningitis B in England and Wales and 33 deaths, with 10% of survivors having major disabilities. | The JCVI, in its decision in March 2014, said the meningitis B vaccine, Bexsero, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), would only be cost-effective for the youngest babies – and even then only just. In 2011-12 there were 613 laboratory-confirmed cases of meningitis B in England and Wales and 33 deaths, with 10% of survivors having major disabilities. |
| By May next year, all children under two will have been vaccinated, said the department. Within a few years all children under five will have had the jabs, if their parents want them to. Research will be conducted to test if there is an argument for vaccinating adolescents, in whom there is also a regular spike in cases. | By May next year, all children under two will have been vaccinated, said the department. Within a few years all children under five will have had the jabs, if their parents want them to. Research will be conducted to test if there is an argument for vaccinating adolescents, in whom there is also a regular spike in cases. |
| Many parents are seeking to have their children vaccinated by private clinics. However, there is a shortage of vaccine, though the NHS programme is not affected by this. GSK has said it hopes stocks will improve by the summer. | Many parents are seeking to have their children vaccinated by private clinics. However, there is a shortage of vaccine, though the NHS programme is not affected by this. GSK has said it hopes stocks will improve by the summer. |
| A spokesman for the charity Meningitis Now continued to call for all children under five to be vaccinated immediately. He said the organisation understood the need for further data to be gathered on the duration of protection offered by Bexsero and whether vaccinating teenagers would lead to herd immunity. | A spokesman for the charity Meningitis Now continued to call for all children under five to be vaccinated immediately. He said the organisation understood the need for further data to be gathered on the duration of protection offered by Bexsero and whether vaccinating teenagers would lead to herd immunity. |
| “We are now two years on since the JCVI recommended this study and, whilst we are pleased to read in the government statement that there is preparatory research that has been commissioned and is under way, we still have no indication of when the full study will commence or be completed by,” he said. | “We are now two years on since the JCVI recommended this study and, whilst we are pleased to read in the government statement that there is preparatory research that has been commissioned and is under way, we still have no indication of when the full study will commence or be completed by,” he said. |
| “We therefore continue to call for the under-fives to be protected while we wait for the data to be gathered and because of the length of time it is taking to progress the study. We keenly await information about the process of MPs speaking to families and health experts prior to a debate in parliament. We will ensure that we continue to be the voice for people affected by this devastating disease.” | “We therefore continue to call for the under-fives to be protected while we wait for the data to be gathered and because of the length of time it is taking to progress the study. We keenly await information about the process of MPs speaking to families and health experts prior to a debate in parliament. We will ensure that we continue to be the voice for people affected by this devastating disease.” |
| The Meningitis Research Foundation said it was disappointed by the government’s decision. It said it understood that the NHS budget was finite, but that the cost-effectiveness rules undervalue the prevention of severe illness in childhood. | The Meningitis Research Foundation said it was disappointed by the government’s decision. It said it understood that the NHS budget was finite, but that the cost-effectiveness rules undervalue the prevention of severe illness in childhood. |
| “Meningitis is every parent’s nightmare. And the government’s cost-effectiveness calculations simply do not take this level of public concern into account. They must, or the MenB vaccine and future childhood vaccines for less common, severe illnesses will always face an uphill struggle,” the foundation said. | “Meningitis is every parent’s nightmare. And the government’s cost-effectiveness calculations simply do not take this level of public concern into account. They must, or the MenB vaccine and future childhood vaccines for less common, severe illnesses will always face an uphill struggle,” the foundation said. |