Hawke's Bay GPs call for parents to get students vaccinated against meningococcal

GP for Woodford House and Iona College, Kate Irwin, vaccinated 60 girls over a two-day period. Photo / File

Hawke's Bay healthcare experts are calling for more to be done to protect young people against meningococcal B disease.

Meningococcal disease is an uncommon, life-threatening infection which can cause meningitis and septicaemia, with the B strain representing around half of all cases in 2019.

GPs in Hawke's Bay are calling for secondary schools to take the lead in preventing the spread of Meningococcal B.

Babies, children under five and teenagers are the most susceptible groups.

Lindisfarne College GP Graeme McCrory recently vaccinated 165 boys over a two-day period.

GPs are calling for students to get immunised against meningococcal B disease. Photo / File

He advised parents to get their children vaccinated before they leave home for tertiary education.

"We are trying to ensure our students have the best possible protection before they head off to university and into hostels and flats where there isn't mum or dad there looking out for them."

He said ideally students should be offered the vaccination when they enter their first year of high school.

"I have offered it to all adolescents in my private practice and the concern is there is variable uptake simply because of the cost.

"I would like to see the vaccine subsidised so more children can be protected from this devastating disease."

GP for Woodford House and Iona College, Kate Irwin, vaccinated 60 girls over a two-day period.

She said a vaccination is like an insurance policy.

"We insure our homes yet not many of them burn down, but when they do its catastrophic, it's a disaster, it's the same with meningitis.

"The concern is that once the teens are independent and, in a hostel, or flat, and are out all night, that it's easy to miss someone looking like they are simply sleeping when in fact they could be unconscious in bed."

She said until the vaccine is funded, there will continue to be people who miss out on the vaccine.

A strain specific to New Zealand resulted in a prolonged epidemic of meningococcal B between 1991 and 2007, claiming 252 lives and 6128 cases.

As a result, a tailor-made vaccine, called MeNZB, was introduced between 2004 and 2008.

Infants who were vaccinated during the last epidemic are no longer considered immune, and need to be vaccinated again as they head into the high-risk teenage group, with new vaccine Bexsero now available in New Zealand.

Otago University student health nurse Melanie Philip encourages parents to make sure their children are vaccinated prior to entering residential halls in their first year.

"I'd love everyone to have the vaccine and I would like it to be on the schedule so that everyone has access to it, in the meantime we try and educate students and their families on how important it is to be vaccinated."

While the vaccination is available in New Zealand, it is not funded as part of the National Immunisation Schedule.

Meningococcal disease has flu-like symptoms, with headaches, fever, a sore throat and a rash.

One in 10 patients who contract the disease die, and one in five survivors have permanent disabilities, including brain damage, amputated limbs and hearing loss.