Advance in search for deadly meningitis B vaccine

Trials of the jab in Chile protected almost all 1,600 teenagers who were given two inoculations against the infection.

The study, published in the Lancet medical journal today, is the first large-scale trial against the B strain of the illness which affects around 2,000 people each year in the UK, mainly among under-fives and adolescents. Around one in case in five proves fatal.

A vaccine against the C strain is already routinely given but the move opens up the prospect of a combined jab against the illness.

Kate Rowland, of the charity Meningitis UK, said: “The UK is a hotspot for meningitis B with one of the highest incidence rates of the disease in the world.

“Scientists have been trying to develop a vaccine against meningitis B for years but it has been very challenging as its capsule is similar to the structure of human nerve cells and the bacterium is clever; mutating and adapting.

“Trying to get a vaccine to induce protection in infants and toddlers, amongst whom most of the disease occurs, has been very problematic.”

The vaccine developed by drug giant Novartis is being examined by regulators in Europe and if it is approved it could become routinely available in the UK.

Myron Christodoulides, chair of Meningitis UK’s scientific medical panel, said previous studies had shown the vaccine was effective in infants.

“This new study shows that the vaccine could also be highly protective in the adolescent age group,” he said.

“However, there are still a number of important questions to be answered such as how many strains it will protect against, how long the protection will last and whether it will stop the bacteria from being passed on to others, providing indirect protection to those not vaccinated.”

Steve Dayman, founder of Meningitis UK who lost his own son Spencer to the disease 30 years ago, said: “It is extremely encouraging that the vaccine could provide almost 100 per cent protection to adolescents.

“If introduced, this vaccine will be the first of its kind and could save thousands of lives but it is vital that research continues to develop improved vaccine strategies.”

Doctors leading the research said genome sequencing led to work to identify targets for the vaccine on different parts of the bacterium. No serious adverse reactions were reported from the jabs.

They said the “pivotal study” showed two doses of the vaccine provided a potentially protective immune response in almost 100 per cent of adolescents who were given the inoculations.