CDC Recommends Meningitis Vaccine for Preadolescents
[Posted 04/21/05]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization is urging that 11- and 12-year-olds, high school freshmen, and dorm-dwelling college students be vaccinated against meningitis. CDC’s three-year goal is to have a new meningitis vaccine routinely administered at the same time as the measles-mumps-rubella shot for 12-year-olds.

This recommendation follows the approval in January of the new more effective and longer-lasting meningococcal vaccine for use in people 11 to 55 years of age. The new vaccine lasts at least eight years, compared to three to five years for the old vaccine. The new vaccine, manufactured by Sanofi Pasteur, also prevents people from being carriers of the disease.

Contact: Robin Flagg, 415/882-5110 or rflagg@cmanet.org.