Meningococcal Diseases and Vaccine

Meningococcal Diseases are associated with the bacterium, Neisseria meningitidis, also referred to as meningococcus, and include the invasive diseases, meningitis and blood poisoning, both of which can also be caused by other pathogens. There are several different serogroups of meningococcus. According to the 2006 Canadian Immunization Guide, serogroups B and C are predominant; serogroup Y, which mainly occurs in older adults, is less prevalent; and serogroups W135 and A are even rarer in Canada. However, even B and C cases are so rare that they’re almost non-existent. Statistics from the years 2000-2003 show the average yearly total of meningococcal C cases in infants and children up to 4 yrs old was 4 to 9 for the whole country.

The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) tells us that, “High fever, headache, and stiff neck are common symptoms of meningitis in anyone over the age of 2 years. These symptoms can develop over several hours, or they may take 1 to 2 days. Other symptoms may include nausea, vomiting, discomfort looking into bright lights, confusion, and sleepiness. In newborns and small infants, the classic symptoms of fever, headache, and neck stiffness may be absent or difficult to detect, and the infant may only appear slow or inactive, or be irritable, have vomiting, or be feeding poorly. As the disease progresses, patients of any age may have seizures.”

Regarding transmission, the CDC explains, “The bacteria are spread through the exchange of respiratory and throat secretions (i.e., coughing, kissing). Fortunately, none of the bacteria that cause meningitis are as contagious as things like the common cold or the flu, and they are not spread by casual contact or by simply breathing the air where a person with meningitis has been.” In 2002, Health Canada’s website described meningococcal disease as “not very contagious”.

In a paper published in the Medical Journal of Australia, epidemiologist Dr Mahomed Patel notes that introduction of vaccines against two other bacterial infections, those of pneumococci and Haemophilus influenzae type b, were followed by increases in bacterial strains not included in the vaccines. Commenting on this, he says, “It’s not unlikely that this may occur with the meningococcal vaccines”.

The 2006 monograph for Menjugate® vaccine tells us that, like the pneumococcal vaccine, Prevnar®, it is a conjugate vaccine; it contains a portion of the meningococcal C bacterium joined to a protein carrier which is a non-toxic mutant of diphtheria toxin. Menjugate® also contains mannitol, sodium phosphate monobasic monohydrate, sodium phosphate dibasic heptahydrate, aluminum hydroxide, and sodium chloride.

The monograph states, “No pharmacodynamic or pharmacokinetic studies have been conducted with Menjugate®, in accordance with its status as a vaccine.” Presumably this means that, because vaccines are assumed to be effective if they elicit a significant production of antibodies, that effect should be sufficient evidence to convince us that further study of their action in the body is unnecessary.

The monograph instructs those who administer the vaccine that “Precautions such as the use of antipyretic measures should be relayed to the parent or guardian”. But, while lowering body temperature with the use of drugs may make the vaccine recipient feel better and parents less anxious, it could also possibly reduce immune response. In the case of a meningococcal infection, fever suppression is especially risky since reduced immune response may mask tell-tale symptoms of rapidly progressing meningococcal disease.

Because, during trials, other vaccines were injected along with Menjugate®, a convenient loophole was available regarding adverse event reporting. The monograph states: “In infants and toddlers symptoms including crying, irritability, drowsiness, impaired sleeping, anorexia, diarrhea and vomiting were common after vaccination but there was no evidence that these were related to Menjugate® rather than concomitant vaccines, particularly DPT.” Note that there was also no evidence that they were related to concomitant vaccines rather than Menjugate®. This points to the fallacy of co-administering other vaccines with trial vaccines and using vaccines as controls.

The monograph further states: “Although symptoms of meningism such as neck pain/stiffness or photophobia have been reported, there is no evidence that the vaccine causes meningococcal C meningitis. Clinical alertness to the possibility of coincidental meningitis should therefore be maintained.” Does this mean that Novartis made every attempt to find evidence that these symptoms were caused by their vaccine and found none, or does it mean they made every attempt to avoid looking for evidence?

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