Meningococcal vaccine campaign breakthrough

International research that drew on New Zealand’s ground-breaking meningococcal B vaccine campaign is being hailed as a possible breakthrough in the fight against the deadly disease. The B-group of meningococcal strains has been notoriously difficult to prevent, with no universal vaccine available. Trials of a Chilean-developed vaccine that offers protection have shown early success, with nearly all 1,300 teenage participants still immune six months after receiving two or three doses. The research drew on a successful vaccine developed to combat a meningococcal B epidemic in New Zealand in the 1990s and early 2000s, which killed 185 people and infected more than 4,000. That vaccine was designed to only protect against the particular strain circulating in New Zealand so could not be used as a universal vaccine. There are six types of meningococcal disease, which all have multiple strains. The two types most common in New Zealand are meningococcal B and meningococcal C, which...