Guest Author
As families across the nation settle back into the rhythm of a school year, it’s important that they check off an essential item that can linger on the to-do list: getting their children vaccinated for one of this year’s most intimidating yet preventable diseases.
Meningitis is a highly contagious disease that can quickly spread into an outbreak with devastating consequences. Early symptoms are like the flu but can have a much more harrowing impact, striking fast and threatening brain or organ damage and causing severe headaches, nausea, and worse.
Meningitis B thrives in close-contact environments – the kind that is so common in close quarters, like locker rooms, camp cabins, and dorms. This makes my young patients — often those setting off for college or serving in the military — significantly more at risk of contracting the disease.
Across the nation, Meningitis B accounts for about half of cases in individuals aged 17 to 23. To add insult to injury, right now, Florida has no state requirement for meningitis vaccines – even for those on college and university campuses. Far too many young Floridians could be unprotected from the contagious disease, allowing it to spread even more quickly.
The only way for Floridians to adequately protect themselves from this potentially deadly disease is to get vaccinated. Currently, a Meningitis vaccination protects against strains A, C, W, and Y, and a separate vaccination for strain B. However, due to unclear recommendations by the CDC’s Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP), only 3 out of 10 17-year-olds have received at least one dose of the MenB vaccine.
As a physician, I emphasize the importance of the vaccine to all my patients.
With more than 80% of parents unaware of the separate Meningitis B vaccine according to a 2019 report, it is pertinent that recommendations be made clear. But amid the confusion on how to be fully protected against this deadly disease, we can finally see change coming for the better.
A new meningitis vaccine is expected to be introduced, and this one will cover all strains of the disease. With the ACIP meeting at the end of this month, there is an important opportunity to issue clear, easy-to-understand recommendations so that people can access the vaccine, ensuring those at risk for any strain of Meningitis have the most robust protection available.
As a medical professional who has seen the worst of what Meningitis B can do to patients and parents alike, I believe this pentavalent vaccine will help significantly increase MenB vaccination rates.
And I’m not alone.
More than 90% of physicians are also confident we’ll see a rise in vaccinations. This new vaccine will greatly simplify the process of getting our patients vaccinated. While Meningitis B remains a challenging and sometimes tragic disease, there is now hope it can truly be prevented.
I urge the ACIP to issue clear and simple recommendations in favor of this new vaccine, ensuring that more young Floridians are protected from all strains of meningitis in the most convenient way.
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Dr. Linda Delo is an osteopathic family physician in Port Saint Lucie and a past president of the Florida Society of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians and the Florida Osteopathic Medical Association.
