Children line up for vaccine trial

By ANGELA GREGORY health reporter

Meningococcal disease is caused by a tiny bug so small you can't see it.

This bug can get inside your body and make you really sick ... It is a very serious disease.

This was the message that has had South Auckland children lining up to try out a potential vaccine for the killer disease.

The first 20 children to receive a jab to fight group B meningococcal disease were healthy 8- to 12-year-olds at Finlayson School in Clendon yesterday.

About 300 children of the same age from Manurewa and Papakura will get the first of their three injections in the next few weeks.

The children, and their parents, signed consent forms to take part in the trial, which requires anonymity.

The Herald talked to a Samoan mother who said her three New Zealand-born children had been willing to try the vaccine to protect their health. A friend in Papatoetoe had lost a 6-year-old son to the disease a few years ago, she said.

The Ministry of Health says the vaccine is similar to one administered in more than 40 million doses overseas with no unexpected and serious adverse reactions recorded.

The ministry has contracted Auckland University to run the clinical trials.

The university's principal investigator, Professor Diana Lennon, said a child was admitted almost daily to hospital somewhere in New Zealand.

"The chances are these children will suffer long-term problems even if they survive this disease," she said.

Last year, 26 people of the 650 who contracted the disease died. Up to 20 per cent of the other 624 would have been left with serious disability, and others with educational or behavioural difficulties, she said.

Health Minister Annette King said the Government had committed up to $200 million to stopping "this dreadful disease".