Study results will inform immunisation programs globally

The results of the B Part of It study – the largest meningococcal B herd immunity study ever conducted – are published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The results have implications for all meningococcal B vaccine programs globally. Led by Professor Helen Marshall from the University of Adelaide’s Robinson Research Institute, the B Part of It study involved almost 35,000 senior school students in South Australia, aged 15 to 18 years, during 2017 and 2018. “Our study has shown good protection was provided by the meningococcal B vaccine against meningococcal disease in those vaccinated but did not show an overall reduction in the proportion of adolescents carrying the bacteria, including the B strain,” Professor Marshall says. Adolescents can harmlessly carry the meningococcus bacteria in the back of the throat with only a very small proportion developing the disease. Meningococcal B is one of the most common strains that causes meningococcal disease,...