Meningococcal meningitis group B confirmed in Drexel University student fatality
In a follow-up to a report Tuesday, Philadelphia health officials confirm that the strain of bacterial meningitis implicated in the death of Drexel University sophomore, 19-year-old Stephanie Ross was serogroup B, according to a CIDRAP News report today.
Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B is the same type seen in outbreaks at Princeton University in New Jersey and the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Both universities got approval to vaccinate students with the unlicensed meningitis vaccine, Bexsero, which covers meningitis serogroup B. Vaccines licensed in the US does not cover this strain.
Meningococcal disease is a leading cause of bacterial meningitis. Five main groups of meningococcal bacteria (A, B, C, W-135 and Y) cause the majority of all cases around the world.
Currently, there are two vaccines in the United States ,meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine (Menomune®), and meningococcal conjugate vaccine (Menactra® and Menveo®), that protect against Neisseria meningitidis.
However, they only protect against Neisseria meningitidis Serogroups A, C, Y and W-135.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the most common ones that cause disease in the United States are B, C, and Y. In 2012 there were about 500 total cases of meningococcal disease, and 160 of those cases were caused by serogroup B.
In 2013, the Novartis Bexsero vaccine was approved for use in the European Union and in Australia. The vaccine is the first to protect against MenB.
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[…] couple of days later, Philadelphia health officials confirmed that the strain of meningitis was serogroup B that was implicated in the tragic death of Ms. […]
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