Meningococcal still striking in Northland

Meningococcal disease continues to strike infants and young people in Northland even after mass vaccination campaigns.

Six cases have been notified this year to the region's public health authorities, all in the five-month period from the end of April to late September.

Four of these cases were notified last month, leading Northland medical officer of health Jonathan Jarman to describe September as a busy time for meningococcal disease in the region.

Three of the six cases notified so far this year involved young people who had been fully vaccinated with the MeNZB vaccine but only one, a 16-year-old in Whangarei, had evidence of the disease's epidemic strain.

Dr Jarman said not all strains of the disease were covered by the vaccine although the epidemic strain contracted by the fully vaccinated Whangarei teenager in September was targeted in the vaccine.

The MeNZB vaccine was not 100 per cent effective but most fully vaccinated people would be protected against picking up the epidemic strain.

"It won't protect everyone and there are strains the vaccine does not protect against.

"We have a small number of cases seen in Northland each year that the vaccine doesn't protect against."

Of the other three people with meningococcal cases notified last month, none had been fully vaccinated.

Two had had no vaccinations, including a 24-year-old from Whangarei who also showed evidence of an epidemic strain.

A four-month-old unvaccinated baby from the Whangaroa area did not show signs of an epidemic strain, while results are not yet known involving a 17-month-old from Kaikohe with one vaccination.

In an email this week to Northland health professionals, Dr Jarman warns there is "still sting in the tail of meningococcal disease. It's still out there circulating in the community".

Dr Jarman said it was important to encourage people to vaccinate their children and if their children became sick take them to a doctor.