meningococcal vaccine

[mom@shiloh]

Educate me, please.  My PCP is recommending this for my 16 yo dd before she goes to college. She is likely to not live on campus if she goes to college, but will commute.  She's my 9th child and none of the others have had the vaccination.  I'm not anti-vax, but I am cautious about vaccines. Anyone have info/opinions?  Google isn't terribly helpful. 

[Terabith]

This is one you absolutely, 100% want to get.  It's out there, extremely fatal, extremely fast.  

[EmseB]

Meningitis isn't something I'd mess around with. It can take down a healthy young adult very quickly and is easily missed because the person who has it thinks they just have the flu or other bad virus, and by the time they realize it is something more serious it is too late, or very nearly too late (ETA like dead or permanently brain damaged too late). I think the primary concern is spreading in a place like college dorms, but classrooms and such can be just as bad because people will still try to make it to class thinking they aren't that sick or need to take the test or whatever else.

I'm pretty pro-vax, though, so grain of salt and all that.

Edited October 28, 2019 by EmseB

[Pawz4me]

There is no way on earth I'd send a kid off to college w/o that vaccine. No way.

[City Mouse]

There are some colleges and states that require this vaccine. Even though my state is not one of those, I would absolutely encourage my child to get it. 

[Janeway]

I am pretty anti-vax and don't really see much need for that vaccination. The illness is pretty rare. But, I still had my children get it. I figure by 16 yrs old, their immune system is good enough to handle most vaccinations. And the shot has been out a while. We heard tons about how bad the Guardasil shot was within a short time of it being out. We have not heard anything like that about the Meningitis shot. So I figure it is safe to give. So my teens have had it. My younger teen stayed in a college dorm this past summer so I had him get it for good measure.

[itsheresomewhere]

I am very cautious with certain vaccines due to health issues.  DS will get this shot when he is ready for college.  

[Bambam]

In our state, there is an exemption form that is good for 2 years (so you refile it if necessary).  I asked a while back for useful sites for info on the vaccine here, so I could share those with my teen - she was 18 at at the time. 

[Selkie]

My kids all got the meningitis vaccine as well as the lesser-known meningitis B vaccine. Here is an article about why the meningitis B vaccine is important, and why many doctors don't even know about it. 

https://www.health.com/condition/infectious-diseases/meningitis-b-vaccine

From the article:

“Over 50% of all [meningitis] cases in the United States are caused by serogroup B. All college outbreaks since 2011 [have been] caused by serogroup B. Why are we not even mentioning men B? It doesn’t make sense,” Stillman says. Also alarming is that most colleges don't require the meningitis B vaccination when a young person enrolls (even though the American College Health Association has called out the dangers of meningitis B). 

When we were seeking the B vaccine for our kids, every doctor and nurse we spoke to was completely clueless about it, which was pretty scary. We ended up ordering the vaccines through our local Walmart pharmacy - the pharmacist there was very knowledgeable about it.

[Pawz4me]

52 minutes ago, Selkie said:

My kids all got the meningitis vaccine as well as the lesser-known meningitis B vaccine. Here is an article about why the meningitis B vaccine is important, and why many doctors don't even know about it. 

https://www.health.com/condition/infectious-diseases/meningitis-b-vaccine

From the article:

“Over 50% of all [meningitis] cases in the United States are caused by serogroup B. All college outbreaks since 2011 [have been] caused by serogroup B. Why are we not even mentioning men B? It doesn’t make sense,” Stillman says. Also alarming is that most colleges don't require the meningitis B vaccination when a young person enrolls (even though the American College Health Association has called out the dangers of meningitis B). 

When we were seeking the B vaccine for our kids, every doctor and nurse we spoke to was completely clueless about it, which was pretty scary. We ended up ordering the vaccines through our local Walmart pharmacy - the pharmacist there was very knowledgeable about it.

The boys' pediatrician was knowledgeable about it, and encouraged them to have both (they did).

[MEmama]

3 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

The boys' pediatrician was knowledgeable about it, and encouraged them to have both (they did).

DS's doctor knew too. He has had his full rounds of both. 👍

[Jaz]

I delayed vaccines and skipped some. Both of my dc got this one!

[BeachGal]

My kids all got vaccinated for the ACWY serogroups around ages 11-12 followed by a booster around 16-17. A serogroup is a variation within a species of bacteria. Some of my kids also got vaccinated for the B serogroup — the Bexsero vaccine — which is given late teens and is two shots ideally, four weeks apart.

There are other serogroups, such as X, and a vaccine for that is being trialed.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(18)30400-6/fulltext

It’s not unusual to have some mild symptoms for a day or two. It’s usually pain or redness at the injection site or light flu-like symptoms.

[JenneinCA]

Both of my college age kids got both of the meningitis vaccines.  The risks are just too high.  Teenagers are awful at figuring out just how sick they are under normal circumstances and this one can go from mild to deadly in hours.  

[Tanaqui]

This vaccine isn't very new. I'd get it, and most/all other not-that-new vaccines which are recommended. I understand not wanting your kid to be a beta tester, but unless you have health issues that might preclude vaccination the risk is very small and the gain potentially very big.

[DoraBora]

Texas colleges require Meningitis A -- even the community colleges -- with exemptions for conscientious objectors, students over the age of 22, whose doctors think the vaccine is risky for them, etc.  Both of my kids had it and neither had any noticeable side effects.  I say do it.  The disease is not terribly common, but moves quickly and can be deadly.

My younger child's doc talked us into the Meningitis B shot, which is given in two doses, six months apart.

[maize]

Another vote in favor of the vaccine. My family has known young people who died of meningitis--in one case the kid went to bed feeling only slightly ill but when mom went to check on her in the morning she was dead.

[Ali in OR]

Get both the Men A and the less common Men B vaccines. Both of Oregon's big universities have had outbreaks of Men B in recent years.  We also had the sad case of a local high school grad lose fingers and limbs to this disease. This age group is more vulnerable than older adults.

[Joker]

Our state uni's require both Men A and Men B. Ds had no ill effects and dd is about to get her B (already has A with no issues) since she starts next fall. I feel these are super important for college students.

[Terabith]

4 hours ago, Janeway said:

I am pretty anti-vax and don't really see much need for that vaccination. The illness is pretty rare. But, I still had my children get it. I figure by 16 yrs old, their immune system is good enough to handle most vaccinations. And the shot has been out a while. We heard tons about how bad the Guardasil shot was within a short time of it being out. We have not heard anything like that about the Meningitis shot. So I figure it is safe to give. So my teens have had it. My younger teen stayed in a college dorm this past summer so I had him get it for good measure.

It's really not that rare.  Of the diseases that kids are likely to contract in the wild, the only two more likely are the HPV and flu.  And the HPV isn't transmitted casually.  I'm cautious about vaccines with babies; my kids get all their vaccines, but we spread them out over a longer period of time so they weren't getting more than two vaccines, at least one of which they'd had before with no reaction, at a time.  So, I think it's kinda dumb to send kids out into the world as adolescents or adults without the MMR, but I think it's REALLY REALLY dumb to send them out without the meningitis.  

[BeachGal]

1 hour ago, DoraBora said:

Texas colleges require Meningitis A -- even the community colleges -- with exemptions for conscientious objectors, students over the age of 22, whose doctors think the vaccine is risky for them, etc.  Both of my kids had it and neither had any noticeable side effects.  I say do it.  The disease is not terribly common, but moves quickly and can be deadly.

My younger child's doc talked us into the Meningitis B shot, which is given in two doses, six months apart.

 

@DoraBora, do you recall if the Men B was the Trumenba vaccine?

There are two Men B vaccines available: Bexsero and Trumenba. Each targets different antigens. Bexsero’s second dose is given no sooner than four weeks. I’m not as familiar with Trumenba but I believe it is now often given in three doses — the second two months after first and the third six months after first. Years ago I think it was two doses. There was an outbreak in 2016 at Rutgers and it was determined that three doses of Trumenba would be the better choice for students. Typically, either should offer some protection but it’s possible for one of the B vaccines to be a better fit for a particular outbreak. 

[catz]

My kid's university had a men b outbreak last year.  Absolutely I would get that one.  

[JustEm]

My brother died from meningitis that was misdiagnosed. By the time my parents realized it was worse than what the Dr had told them it was too late. So, this is one we won't be skipping.