Doctor answers questions on meningococcal disease

We invited you to send us your questions about meningococcal disease. Dr Nikki Turner, director of the Immunisation Advisory Centre and the Ministry of Health, answers


Q. Could you tell me if this vaccination against the meningococcal disease has a permanent or temporary effect? - Natalia Dorofeeva

A. It's temporary. It's likely to last many years, but the length at this stage is unknown.

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Q. Even after the vaccine there will still be a 25 per cent chance of getting the disease? - Jenny

A. No vaccination works 100 per cent of the time because it works with an individual's immune system. There are always people who don't respond to a vaccine. What is known from the clinical trials is this vaccine is at least effective in 75 per cent of people and the rate is probably higher.

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Q. If this disease is so dangerous, why is the vaccine not available to anyone over the age of 20?

A. Eighty per cent of people who get the disease are under 20, that is where the disease burden is. Young people are more likely to be affected because their immune system is not fully developed. There is only limited amount of vaccine available at this stage and people under 20 are at a higher risk.

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Q. I would like to know if there are likely to be any long-term effects from the vaccine. - S Hughes

A. From the international trials in Norway and Cuba there is no sign of any long-term effects from the vaccine. The international trials used the parent vaccines that the New Zealand one has been made from. So, similar vaccines internationally have had no evidence of long-term effects.

The people who volunteered to trial the vaccine are still being monitored and the first 300,000 children under and over five will be monitored as well. They are on a national database so we can follow them up at any time.

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Q. I have heard the vaccine should not be given to anyone allergic to Thimersal, found in several vaccines. Will the Health Department check for this? -
Mark Gerring

A. There is no Thimersal in the vaccine. It is a mercury derivative - a preservative that used to be in vaccines but is no longer used in children's vaccines.

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Q. Do my kids, aged 7 and 9, have to wait until the health nurse comes around to their school? Or could I take them myself to the doctor to have it done? - Melanie Duarte

A. No, they have to wait for the health nurse at school.

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Q. Can you please tell us the number of children who contracted meningococcal disease and had not been vaccinated?

A. All the children who have contracted meningococcal disease have not been vaccinated. The vaccine has only just been licensed for use.