In Britain, parents are asking that the meningitis B vaccine to be available to all children. For now, the vaccine is limited to toddlers of a certain age.
Hundreds of thousands of people in the United Kingdom have signed a petition for the meningitis B vaccine to be given to all children. This has become an issue into the news when two-year-old Faye Burdett died from the B-strain of the infection and her mother shared a photograph of her.
The child of the former England rugby player Matt Dawson has also suffered from the meningitis, but of C strain. Dawson has revealed that his toddler son Sami is recovering well.
As part of the NHS childhood vaccination program, a vaccine for meningitis C is available free for all children but a vaccine for meningitis B is only available free for children born on or after May 1, 2015. According to the health officials, the reason behind this is that the meningitis B vaccine called Bexsero is more useful to babies and children under five. They are most at risk and risk to contract the meningitis B infection peak at the age of five months.
Even if the vaccine comes for free from the NHS for children under certain age, it is supposed that parents of older children can buy it privately if they want to have the inoculation. However, due to unexpected global demand for meningitis B vaccine Bexsero during the year 2015, the supplier of the vaccine, GlaxoSmithKline, is experiencing supply constraints during the first half of 2016.
According to BBC News, the pharmaceutical company stated that vaccination through the NHS childhood program remains unaffected because it has been prioritized. However, GlaxoSmithKline had to ask private clinics to not start new courses of vaccination temporarily. Only those children who have already started privately their course of the vaccine will still be able to receive their follow-up doses.
GlaxoSmithKline also declared in their statement that they understand that parents have placed high importance in protecting their children from meningitis B and this is reflected in the unexpectedly high demand for the vaccine. In consequence, the pharmaceutical company is working hard to increase supply and they expect to be able to provide an increased stock by summer 2016.
