New vaccines cut meningitis spread
19 Aug 2014
Many of the bacteria that cause meningitis are spread through the exchange of respiratory and throat secretions.
Researchers at the University of Southampton (UOS) have discovered two new meningitis vaccines that actively prevent the transmission of bacteria from one person to another, clinical trials have shown.
A full account of the study has been published in the journal The Lancet.
According to researchers, both vaccines work by “reducing the carriage of the responsible bacteria in the nose and throats of the population”.
The UOS has suggested its research could revolutionise the way new vaccines are produced in the future.
“This could provide a degree of herd protection against meningitis if implemented in a campaign
UOS study leader Robert Read
Professor of Infectious Diseases at the UOS, and study leader, Robert Read said: “The standard practice is to vaccinate with the aim of inducing high levels of antibodies in the blood to protect against the disease, but we know that these antibodies can disappear over the course of a few months.
“This study is telling us that the vaccines also have an effect on carriage in the throat and explains why they can be so effective across the population.”
The study, which was conducted on participants aged between 18-24 years old, and took place across 10 centres throughout the UK, tested the effectiveness of vaccines MenACWY-CRM and 4CMenB.
Participants were either given two doses of a control vaccine, two doses of the 4CMenB vaccine or one dose of MenACWY-CRM and then a placebo.
Results suggest MenACWY-CRM was shown to reduce meningitis carriage rates by 39%, while the 4CMenB vaccine reduced carriage rates by between 20% and 30%.
According to Read, both vaccines, which are manufactured by pharmaceutical firm Novartis, are licensed, and Bexsero - the meningitis B vaccine - is being deployed by the UK government in 2015.
“This is a significant piece of work in helping more and more people be protected from meningitis. We have shown that vaccines modify the way the bacteria are carried, so even when the antibodies are no longer present in the blood, the carriage in the throat is still prevented, and so is onward transmission of the infection to others,” Read said.
“This could provide a degree of herd protection against meningitis if implemented in a campaign in which high transmission occurs, for example in teenagers and young adults.”
Read told LaboratoryTalk that the UOS research could be adapted so that a number of other vaccines were developed for use within different forms of meningitis, of which there are several strains.
