Children 11 to 12 years old and students entering high school or beginning college, particularly if they will be living in a dorm, should get a meningococcal shot, the American Academy of Pediatrics said Thursday.
The shot would help prevent meningococcal disease, the most common cause in children ages 2 to 18 of bacterial meningitis, a rare but potentially deadly bacterial infection.
“It’s a very effective vaccine that can prevent a very serious and even fatal illness,” said Dr. M. Ward Hinds, health officer for the Snohomish Health District.
Last summer, a 16-year-old Bothell High School student died of bacterial meningitis, an inflammation of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord.
Symptoms include high fever, headache, stiff neck, confusion and nausea. The disease is spread through close contact with an infected person, often through kissing or sharing drinking bottles, or living in close proximity to others, such as in dorms.
Over the past few years in Snohomish County, three to seven cases of meningococcal disease have been reported each year, Hinds said.
No local figures were immediately available on the number of deaths from the cases, but generally 10 percent to 15 percent of cases are fatal, he said.
Washington has a higher than average annual number of deaths from meningococcal disease, about seven a year, but it is unknown why, said Dr. Maxine Hayes, health officer for the state Department of Health.
The recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics follows similar action from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this year. Both recommend the same groups of young people get the shot.
“I think with people sending kids off to school, this is timely,” Hayes said. “I would definitely recommend that they ask their providers about the vaccine.”
A new vaccine for the disease “offers a higher degree of protection than the meningococcal vaccine we’ve had for a number of years,” Hinds said.
The shot also reduces the number of carriers, people who have no symptoms but carry the bacteria in their nose and throat and are able to spread the disease to others, he said.
“If you can eliminate that carrier state, you can reduce the transmission from person to person,” Hinds said.
The Snohomish Health District expects to purchase a small supply of the vaccine for those who do not have access to a health care provider. The shot will cost about $100.
Providence Physician Group expects to have limited supplies of the vaccine by late June, spokeswoman Cheri Russum said.
The shot is expected to be available at The Everett Clinic in July at a cost of about $80, said Dr. Katherine Runyon, a pediatrician.
Until now, some colleges have required students get the shot, she said, but most have not.
The shot is not now recommended for those older than 19 because the rates of meningococcal disease drop dramatically at that point, she said.
The immunization is recommended not because meningococcal disease is common, “but because it’s extremely serious when you get it,” Runyon said.
Reporter Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@ heraldnet.com.
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