TAMPA, Fla. — Once again, there’s a debate over vaccines brewing among health experts. It’s not about COVID this time. It’s the vaccine for meningitis.
The battle isn’t over if children should get the vaccine- but when.
“Meningococcal disease is a bacterial infection that is, while rare, potentially fatal,” said Dr. Wendy Wright.
As it stands right now, the CDC recommends children ages 11 to 12 receive their first meningitis vaccine and then receive their second dose at the age of 16.
“The good news is about 89% of kids actually take that vaccine because they’re also coming in for mandated vaccines, i.e. a tetanus shot or a Tdap. We then give the second shot at 16 years of age. We call this the booster shot. Only 61% of adolescents in the United States get that second shot,” said Dr. Wright.
The bacterial infection can be contracted through respiratory droplets from sneezing and coughing, but also through kissing and sharing bottles.
“The statistics are that about 10% to 15% of people who contract this bacteria will die from it and those that survive, 1 in 5, or 20% will be left with severe disabilities, including amputations,” said Dr. Wright.
That’s exactly what happened to Jonathan DeGuzman in 2005. He had flu-like symptoms while he was a student at Southwestern College.
“So, I went back home and rested in my room and just took a nap. The next thing I remember, it’s 12 days later and I just woke up from a coma and doctors were scrambling to try to get me better, but they needed to amputate all 10 of my fingers and both of my feet just to save my life,” said DeGuzman.
The CDC is considering upping the age of the first vaccine to 16.
“So, our concern is that if the CDC eliminates that 11 to 12-year-old vaccine, which is being discussed, that we’re going to leave so many adolescents unprotected, either because they didn’t get the first vaccine or because, maybe, they didn’t get either of the vaccines,” said Dr. Wright. “We have seen a 90% decline in bacterial meningitis since the introduction of this vaccine and we’d hate to see that lost and the progress that we made lost by eliminating that vaccination.”
The CDC is expected to vote on changing the vaccine's recommended age in early 2025.
