The Committee on Safety of Medicines says that there is no suggestion that meningitis C vaccine has led to any deaths. The CSM's statement, issued this week, follows newspaper reports which questioned the safety of the vaccine.
Twelve deaths following meningitis C vaccination have been reported to the CSM through the yellow card scheme but none were attributable to the vaccine. Seven deaths were caused by sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), two by meningitis B, one by pneumococcal septicaemia, one by bronchiolitis and one by pneumonia, the statement says. SIDS occurs at the same age as meningitis vaccination and some cases following vaccine administration are inevitable although trials have not revealed an association between the two, according to the CSM.
The statement concludes that a review of all data on the safety of meningitis vaccine shows that vaccination provides clear benefit in terms of lives saved and disabilities prevented. "We strongly recommend that those due for vaccination should receive meningitis C vaccine," the CSM says.
Last week, the Department of Health renewed its reassurance over the safety of the vaccine (see PJ, September 2, p325).
Figures published by the Public Health Laboratory Service show an 85 per cent fall in the number of cases of meningitis C in those who have been immunised.
In the past 12 weeks, the total number of cases in the immunised age groups (babies under one year and people aged 15 to 17) was seven compared with 45 in the same period in 1999.
By the end of 2000, the vaccination programme should be expanded to all children under the age of 18. A similar reduction in cases in these age groups is expected, says the Department of Health. To date, over 15m doses have been distributed in the UK.
The Department of Health says that the figures emphasise the importance of having the meningitis C vaccine, especially in light of additional PHLS figures which show that the number of cases in those who have not yet been vaccinated continues to rise.