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Meningococcal Disease
Find most of the information you need in these resources
Always refer to your local signed PGD's in practice, and remember the Green Book takes priority over the SPmC - and sometimes WHO takes priority over the Green Book! They don't always say the same!
Other useful links and further reading:
Nursing Times article about Men B vaccine for Gonorrhoea
JCVI minutes on Men B for gonorrhoea
Useful resources for health professionals from meningitis.org
Slide set: MenACWY programme training slides for healthcare professionals - Government slides, not mine!
Slide set: Men B and ACWY advanced training slides (beware - dated 2015!!) - Government slides, not mine!
Programme guidance: Men ACWY programme information for healthcare professionals
Programme guidance: Men B programme information for healthcare professionals
Meningococcal disease: guidance, data and analysis: The characteristics, diagnosis, management, surveillance and epidemiology of meningococcal disease.
Recent Updates & News
31st March 2025: Meningococcal disease: guidance, data and analysis: updated! Lab case data from July to September 24 are published too (as of 27th march). Following the complete withdrawal of COVID-19 containment measures in England from July 2021, overall case numbers returned to pre-pandemic levels driven mainly by group B meningococcal disease. Cases due to the other capsular groups remained very low because of the highly effective indirect (herd) protection provided by the adolescent meningococcal ACWY vaccine programme introduced from August 2015, alongside direct protection in those vaccinated. The distribution of meningococcal cases by capsular group causing invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) between July and September 2024 is summarised in a table in the document but worth noting that Men B accounted for 85.4% of all cases (41 of 48), followed by MenW: 6.3% (3 cases), MenY: 2.1% (1 case), MenC: 2.1% (1 case) and MenE: 2.1% (1 case). There were no confirmed cases for any other capsular groups. There were 41 Men B cases confirmed between July and September 2024, compared to 45 cases in the corresponding period in 2023. Between July and September, Men B was responsible for 93.3% (28 of 30) of IMD cases in individuals under 25 years of age and 72.2% (13 of 18) of cases in individuals aged 25 years or older. All confirmed cases of MenW, MenY and MenC occurred in individuals aged over 25 years. The one case of MenE was aged between 5 and 9 years.
25th March 2025: Doctors and charities call for gonorrhoea vaccine roll-out. When will we see men b vaccines being used for gonorrhoea? The evidence is there....
13th March 2025: Meningococcal B: vaccine information for healthcare professionals doc updated. The PDF version of this guidance has been replaced by an HTML version. The title has been changed to clearly distinguish this guidance from that for other programmes. The guidance includes updated epidemiological information, and the references to latex and black triangle labeling have been removed.
12th March 2025: 5-strain meningitis vaccine shows promise in very young kids (this is about the ACWYX vaccine although there is also talk around the ABCWY vaccine)
28th Feb 2025: GP contract 25/26: Cessation of Hib/MenC 12-month dose effective from 1 July 2025 : Children who turn 12 months on or before 30 June 2025 will remain eligible for Menitorix® until stock levels are depleted, then the infant should be offered a Hexavalent vaccine (to replace the 12-month Hib dose). Children who turn 12 months on or after 1 July 2025 will not be offered a 12-month Hib/MenC vaccine but instead will receive a routine Hexavalent dose at a new 18-month appointment. This change will start from 01 January 2026 when the new 18-month visit will begin in the childhood vaccination schedule.
15th Feb 2025: Penmenvy, GSK’s 5-in-1 meningococcal vaccine, approved by US FDA to help protect against MenABCWY
29th Jan 2025: PGD template to support the provision of MenACWY vaccine to individuals with underlying medical conditions updated
22nd Jan 2025: Patient group direction (PGD) template to support the provision of MenB vaccine to individuals with underlying medical conditions AND the routine PGD updated.
22nd Jan 2025: The left thigh is no longer specified for Men B vaccination in either the Complete immunisation schedule or the Routine Childhood immunisation schedule. The Men B training and healthcare professional resources are currently being updated and will include the same information.
28th Nov 2024: Good news regarding Men C, but not so good for Men B... Press release: UK on brink of defeating meningococcal C
12th Nov 2024: The guidance for managing meningococcal disease has had some updates lately - in September there was a big update, and then in October there was an addition about the sharing of Shisha, and this month the ciprofloxacin section was updated.
JUNE 2024 Information for healthcare professionals updated to reflect vaccine changes on adolescent programme
May 2024 MenQuadfi to be used instead of Nimenrix for the routine adolescent programme from Sept 1st 2024. Should save a bit of time as it's a bit easier to prepare! Winner. Routine immunisation schedule poster changed on 1st July 2024 to reflect this change in procurement.
NOV 2023 Meningitis B vaccine for gonorrhea. This is super important news given the worrying increase in antibiotic resistance. This article, published on the 19th August 2024, explains how Gonorrhea may become untreatable.
JUNE 2023 PGD template ACWY updated
JUNE 2022 JCVI discussions started around Menitorix being discontinued, largely because of the success of the adolescent ACWY programme. Check out the JCVI minutes and keep an eye on program change announcements...
MAY 2022 Green book chapter update - hello MenQuadfi and Trumenba
4 month old baby with gangrene of hands due to meningococcemia. Image reference on hyperlink on photo. Click on it to see more pictures (if you dare).
Bits and bobs to casually drop into conversation
Did you know....
There are 13 different types of the bacterium. Six of these - types A, B, C, W, X and Y - cause most of the disease cases worldwide.
The most common types in the UK are B, C, W and Y.
Since the MenC vaccine was introduced in the UK in 1999, there has been a big fall in MenC cases.
Most of the cases in the UK are currently caused by type B.
Since 2009, cases of MenW disease have been on the increase in the UK
Overall, 1 in 20 cases of meningococcal disease result in death. Death rates are higher for teenagers and young adults.
1 in 5 survivors have permanent effects such as skin scars, limb amputation(s), hearing loss, seizures and brain damage.
Between 5% and 11% of adults carry the bacteria in their throats asymptomatically. In teenagers this rate rises to 25%,
All visitors to the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages in Saudi Arabia need proof that they have been vaccinated against type A, C, W and Y meningococcal disease.
