Meningitus B: Does the government think this is an acceptable response to 800k signatures on a petition?

[MythologicalPersonage]

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/108072?reveal_response=yes

www.meningitis.org/menb-vaccine

(need to scroll down a bit)

I was just writing something about the JCVI's response irt safety in reply to 1234's post but YouCant has pretty much said it!

Good BBC link too. I do wonder why people aren't discussing MenW more. Cases of menB have been decreasing for years but MenW cases have been increasing and it is has a more deadly strain with a fatality rate of ~13% from recent figures iirc compared to a case fatality rate of ~5% in MenB from here (although this link states MenW has a CFR of 10%)

"• Similarly, MenB deaths have also decreased from 51 to 25 over the last 5 epidemiological years.
• Deaths amongst ACWY cases have increased from 8 in 2010/11 to 30 in 2014/15. This is due to the increase in deaths associated with MenW disease, which increased from 3 to 16 over the study period."

So this is the "How Effective is the Vaccine?" section from Meningitis.org. It says basically what the JCVI statement above does, that we don't yet know how the immunogenicity relates to actual Men B cases prevented.

"The effectiveness of a vaccine is determined by many things, including how strong an immune response it produces (its ‘immunogenicity’), and how widely it covers disease-causing strains circulating in the country. Results from the vaccine trials are very encouraging, showing that the vaccine triggers a strong immune response in infants, toddlers and adolescents[1-3]. Studies looking at how well circulating MenB strains match the vaccine have predicted that it will cover approximately 88% of MenB circulating in the UK[4], and 78% of MenB in Europe over all[5]. The actual proportion of cases prevented will depend on other things too, including how widely the vaccine is offered and taken up, whether it prevents the bacteria from being carried and passed on as well as protecting from disease, how long protection lasts, and whether it works sufficiently well in all age groups."

The safety data they cite is slightly more encouraging than was used at the time of Bexsero roll out here, but is still only a few 10,000s doses (with annotated safety data, as I read it).

I agree Bumbley. I'm much more concerned about Men W as that is a more aggressive strain on the increase. Scary stuff.

I guess when you do not have to see your daughter in her coffin with her favourite teddy called Sam you see things differently.
Daisy had a pink casket with butterflies painted on because she loved them
Jamie carried her into church he was brave, I wasn't. Now we are destroyed completely.

Look guys, I'm no expert but I would like a fair hearing at the debate. What the flip is wrong with that?

That link also goes on to say

Real-world experience of using Bexsero is growing. Nearly 17,000 students in the US were vaccinated in response to an outbreak of MenB disease at Princeton University in late 2013 and the University of California, Santa Barbara in early 2014. Additionally, in the summer of 2014 over 45,000 people between 2 months to 20 years of age, were vaccinated as part of a public immunisation program in the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region of Quebec, Canada[10]. No serious adverse events were reported following the program and rates of fever and local reactions were similar to that of other routine immunisations. The vaccine has also been administered to nearly 4,000 students at the University of Bristol with no serious adverse events being reported. From 2013 to the time of writing over 1 million doses of Bexsero have been distributed in 19 countries worldwide.

I think all these facts will come out in the debate. I would like to see a commitment to more research on all aspects of Meningitis prevention, and hopefully there's enough momentum for that. But I'm not convinced that Bexsero should be rolled out further when it's still in the evaluation phase, and there are bigger threats on the horizon.

Bexsero also covers against Men W.

It's not just Men B

I agree YouCannot. As an earlier poster mentioned, it would be good to know why so many people can carry the bacteria harmlessly while it kills others so quickly.

sugar21 no-one should have to see their DD in a coffin. Of course they shouldn't. I'm sorry that Daisy and Sam aren't still here with you. I'm not suggesting that you'd be wrong to want your child vaccinated against the disease that killed your DD. What I'm saying is that the vaccination of all children under 16 Against MenB is not cost-effective and is not even shown to have the effect that you would hope for. Meningitis B doesn't have the same properties as other types of Meningitis, so they can't use the same vaccination process.

It would also be good to know who gave it to my daughter. She got it from somone, no doubt a carrier. Could be anyone's daughter/ son next.

www.ibtimes.co.uk/uk-government-rejects-call-meningitis-b-vaccine-be-extended-all-children-1547191

Chief advisor to the Government.....Mr Bean.

Sugar 10% of people actively carry the MenB bug in their throats , but it causes no issues , although they can be at risk if immune system becomes compromised

10% are carriers wow that's scary.

This explains is better than I did

Around 10% of the population carry the meningococcal bacteria in the back of their throats at any given time. This is healthy carriage, and should help develop immunity.

The bacteria are passed from person to person by coughing, sneezing and intimate kissing.

Occasionally the bacteria defeat the body’s defences and cause infection.The bacteria break through the lining at the back of the throat and pass into the bloodstream. They can travel in the bloodstream to infect the meninges, causing meningitis, or while in the bloodstream they can cause septicaemia

Oh God so I could have given it to Daisy that's really really upsetting.

I think it's up to 20% Salene (WHO) and can be higher in epidemic situations.

Children are more likely to suffer serious complications from Chicken pox than catch Men B.

There is a safe effective vaccine for CP but NHS don't vaccinate as it was not seen to be cost effective.

These are very hard decisions to make but there is a finite amount of money.

Guess people will pay when more vaccine is made. I would but it is too late

Sugar anyone she came in contact could of given it to her but their is nothing you could do to stop it, or anyway of knowing it was going to happen. It's just one of those horribly devistating things that are out their we all fear and hope we never meet.

Sadly it did enter your life 😥

She could have gotten it from anywhere Sugar, from family, or playgroups etc. There is really no way to know, and certainly no point in blaming yourself. As mentioned above, it's more complicated than just exposure, a large proportion of kids have it without issue - something else has to happen to cause invasive disease (although no-one is really sure what).

There isn't anything you could have done

I thought she had the flu because there was no rash. Waited to get her to GP appointment at 4.45pm he diagnosed correctly and we went to A&E abandon my car and ran in and they took her from me. Did tests and put us in icu but she died they couldnt save her she died at 3.42 am.
Her Daddy was playing away and got next flight but was too late
They clamped my car the bastards.

sugar you couldn't have known. Flu, meningitis, any of it. A very sick child looks like a very sick child. Only careful examination, with the benefit of having seen lots of very sick children before, helps to differentiate between the different diseases.

New statement by Meningitis Research Foundation -

Meningitis Research Foundation disappointed by government response to MenB petition

It goes on for a whole page.....they are not happy.

www.meningitis.org/news-media/meningitis-research-110193