MenB vaccine programme cuts cases of meningitis and septicaemia in infants

The number of cases of meningitis and septicaemia caused by meningococcal group B infection in infants has halved since the introduction of a new vaccine last year, Public Health England reports.1

All newborn babies in the United Kingdom are now routinely offered the vaccination against meningococcal group B, the world’s first infant programme to use this vaccine. In the 10 months since the programme began only 37 recorded cases of meningococcal B were recorded in infants aged under 1, compared with an average of 74 in the same …