KEY POINTS:
A drop in the number of cases of meningococcal B in Rotorua and Taupo is proof a controversial vaccine is working, health experts say.
There have been no cases of meningococcal B in Rotorua or Taupo this year. Nationally, 76 people have contracted the potentially deadly illness.
The figures are well down on the hundreds of cases reported at the height of the epidemic, which has swept the country for 16 years.
Bay of Plenty medical officer of health Phil Shoemack says there's no doubt the immunisation campaign has been effective.
"The vaccine has accelerated the natural decrease in the epidemic. When you look at how much of an impact it's had, we wish we could have had it earlier so fewer kids would have got the disease."
Since 1991 about 6000 New Zealanders - half of them under 6 - have been struck down by the disease and 245 people have died. At the height of the epidemic, Bay of Plenty was among the worst regions affected, recording double the rate of cases as the rest of the country.
In the two years before the vaccine became available in the Bay of Plenty, 107 cases were reported - 29 in 2004 and 78 in 2003. Two people died.
Meningococcal B is an infection of the fluid of the spinal cord and fluid surrounding the brain. It is caused by bacterium and can kill within 24 hours. Other strains of the disease are caused by a virus. Symptoms can be mistaken for influenza and include fever, severe headaches, vomiting, drowsiness, muscular aches and a stiff neck.
In an attempt to control the epidemic, the Ministry of Health launched a massive $220 million vaccination programme targeting babies and teenagers in 2004. Free but not mandatory, it became available in Rotorua and Taupo in February 2005. About 32,100 people under 20 in the Lakes district have been eligible for the vaccine - 82 per cent or 26,400 have completed the programme.
The figures are slightly less for Maori, with 78 per cent of eligible Maori receiving all their doses.
About 5800 out of 7629 preschoolers (76 per cent) have been immunised. Of the 4139 Maori under fives eligible for the vaccine, 2730 (66 per cent) have completed the programme.
Vaccination rates for school-aged children are higher. Of the 24,540 eligible for the vaccine, about 20,600 (84 per cent) have completed the programme. About 9600 out of 11,740 Maori school children and teenagers (82 per cent) have received their three doses.
The school-age immunisation campaign has finished but the health ministry has indicated vaccinations will continue to be available for under-5s until 2009.
Health Rotorua chief executive and Maori health manager Eugene Berryman-Kamp said Lakes has had more success reaching Maori in all age groups than other regions.
- DAILY POST
