DT Health: Vaccinating kids in their first year crucial to prevent meningitis
Meningitis remains a serious public health threat, but the availability of vaccines has significantly reduced the incidence and severity of this devastating disease.
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CHENNAI: The swelling of the lining around the brain and spinal cord (meninges), known as Meningitis, is fatal, particularly for children. A bacterial, fungal or viral infection usually causes the disease. But it is preventable by vaccines.
The common symptoms associated with Meningitis are neck stiffness, fever, confusion or altered mental status, headaches, nausea and vomiting. Seizures, coma and neurological deficits are less frequent but not uncommon side effects of the diseases. Clinical features of patients with Meningitis vary depending on the cause, course of the disease, brain involvement and systemic complications.
There are three common pathogens that cause Acute Bacterial Meningitis - Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and Neisseria meningitidis. Among them, Neisseria Meningitidis accounts for a high fatality rate of up to 15 per cent despite treatment and up to 50 per cent when untreated.
Meningitis remains a serious public health threat, but the availability of vaccines has significantly reduced the incidence and severity of this devastating disease. Ensuring widespread vaccination coverage, particularly in high-risk populations, is critical in the global fight against Meningitis.
"Vaccination is our most effective weapon against meningitis," emphasizes Dr A Balachandran, a Consultant Pediatrician with Child Care Centre in Anna Nagar East, Chennai. "The vaccine does not just protect individuals but also plays a key role in global disease prevention. Choosing to vaccinate is one of the most important decisions a family can make to safeguard long-term health."
To combat Meningitis, the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) recommends a meningococcal vaccine in a 2-dose schedule between nine and 23 months for babies and a single dose above 2 years who are at increased risk of this disease.
The doctors strongly recommend vaccinating children aged above 9 months against Invasive Meningococcal Disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) has also launched a roadmap to eliminate bacterial meningitis epidemics by 2030, endeavouring to reduce vaccine-preventable cases by 50 per cent and deaths by 70 per cent.