Estremadura purchases 50,000 doses of meningitis B vaccine to protect babies for the next two years. There will be enough vaccines to immunize almost 16,700 newborns, taking into account that, according to the guidelines of the National Health Commission, to have the complete regimen, three punctures are needed, which will be placed at two months, at four and a third, as a memory, at twelve months. This vaccine is one of the new ones financed by the Extremadura Health Service (SES) since January 1, along with the flu in children, the papilloma in minors and the Herpes Zoster in people over 65 years of age. Until now, pediatricians recommended that parents inject their children with this drug against meningitis, but they had to pay for it out of pocket. And it is not cheap: the complete pattern cost (and costs) about 320 euros.
The new vaccine was approved by the Interterritorial Council last December, which set the year 2024 as the deadline for its incorporation into the vaccination calendar in the autonomous communities. Extremadura decided to include it starting in 2023, but set a limit: it will only finance this protection to newborns as of January 1 and to those who also meet the first two months of life as of that date, the age at which the first dose must be given. Therefore, those born in November and December of last year will also be immunized.
All babies who have already received any of the doses but who have not completed the regimen will be left out, although the rest of the punctures also had to be put in as of January 1, 2023. There have already been several parents who have complained about this matter. The Minister of Health, José María Vergeles, already explained at the time that it is because a limit must be set when starting to administer the vaccines; as well as for a security reason. As indicated, Health cannot guarantee that the rest of the doses that have been given to babies (prior to those financed) have been carried out in compliance with the protocols and respecting the cold chain, which guarantees that the vaccine is effective in the recipient.
In health centers
This matter was debated again in the last health commission of the Assembly of Extremadura this week, through a question formulated by the deputy of United for Extremadura, Joaquín Macías. «A different treatment is created that is generating controversy and protests and in the health centers the nurses suffer from it because it is difficult to explain it», assured Macías. The general director of Public Health, Emilia Guijarro, argued, as the head of Health did at the time, that it is necessary to “follow the traceability (of the vaccines), where they came from, who has given them or if they have followed the cold chain. “It is necessary – she added – to have a starter vaccine to know the effectiveness.” For this reason, the SES will not give it to those who already have any of the doses because it will not be able to guarantee that, at the end of the three punctures, the regimen is complete, since it has not guarded the doses that have been injected before financing.
However, it is a subject that continues to bring pediatricians and nurses to their heads. Many, in fact, have been forced to hang the regulations on their doors detailing which babies can receive it. They say that when the parents of the children who are left out are informed that they have to pay out of pocket, they receive complaints. They assure that they do not understand the decision since the doses they have acquired on their own have been injected by the same nurses from the health center, who have validated their administration in the baby’s medical history.
In addition to newborns, this vaccine will also be financed for people belonging to risk groups, regardless of their age. Those who suffer from anatomical asplenia, severe splenic dysfunction or complement system deficiencies, those who are being treated with Eculizumab, those who have had a hematopoietic stem cell transplant, those who have previously suffered from invasive meningococcal disease or laboratory personnel are considered at risk. exposed to meningococci. The financing in this case is not new, but was already included in the calendar since 2014. It is estimated that about 1,000 doses are given to this group a year, which, unlike newborns, only needs two punctures to be immunized.
The British pharmaceutical company Glaxosmithkline will be in charge of its distribution throughout the country, after the Ministry of Health has signed the contract. Each community will receive the presentations that have been agreed upon. The 50,000 from Extremadura will cost 5.4 million euros.
27 cases detected since 2018 in the region
Meningitis is infection and inflammation of the fluid and membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord, called the meninges. The most common causes of meningitis are viral infections, which usually get better without treatment. However, bacterial meningitis infections are extremely serious. They can cause death or brain damage, even with treatment. In general, the inflammation of meningitis causes symptoms such as headache, fever, and stiff neck.
The most common infections are caused by serogroups B (the most common), W, C, Y and A. In fact, the vaccine that Health has begun to finance is the one that protects against the B strain, the most common. Another one that immunizes against C was already being subsidized. On the other hand, in recent years there has been an increase in infections caused by serogroups W and Y. For this reason, pediatricians have begun to recommend the injection of a new vaccine that protects against these two strains (it actually gives protection against serogroups A, C, W and Y).
It is marketed under the name of Nimenrix or Menveo (the first is indicated after two months and the second after two years). What pediatricians do is advise that it be inoculated at 12 months or before 12 years of age. Thus, the recommendation is that children between 2 months and 12 years of age be vaccinated with one dose, especially those under 4 years of age, so as not to wait until they are 12 to be protected. Then they will receive a booster dose at age 12. This vaccine has begun to be injected since last year but for the moment it is not included in the vaccination schedule and, therefore, it is not financed by the Extremadura Health Service (SES). Its cost is around 50 euros per dose.
