Meningitis cases have declined since a vaccine for children was
introduced in 2000, a new study indicates. Rates of pneumococcal
meningitis, an inflammation of the membranes around the brain
caused by bacteria, fell 64 percent in kids under age 2 from
1998-1999 to 2004-2005, according to a study in yesterday’s New
England Journal of Medicine. The Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention recommends the vaccine for children ages 2 months to
2 years, and for 2- to 5-year-olds who are at increased risk.
The vaccine is helping more than kids. With fewer contagious
babies to spread germs, fewer older kids and adults are getting
sick, co-author Nancy Bennett, a professor at the University of
Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, told USA Today.
Episodes of pneumococcal meningitis dropped 30 percent in the
overall population. But the news isn’t all good. The kinds of
bacteria that cause meningitis are changing, Janet Englund, a
member of the CDC’s vaccine committee and a pediatrician at
Seattle Children’s Hos