Impact of Meningococcal B Vaccine on Invasive Meningococcal Disease in Adolescents

Background. From 2017, a statewide cluster randomized trial was conducted in South Australia to assess the impact of the meningococcal B vaccine 4CMenB on pharyngeal Neisseria meningitidis carriage in adolescents. Senior schools were randomized to receive the vaccine in 2017 (intervention) or 2018 (control). In this study we report the vaccine impact of 4CMenB on serogroup B invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) in 16-to19-year-old adolescents in South Australia. Methods. This observational time series analysis of serogroup B IMD cases compares the 14 years prior to the commencement of the trial (2003-2016) with the 2 years following 4CMenB vaccination of the 2017 adolescent cohort. Results. Approximately 62% of year 10 and 11 students (15-16 years old) in South Australia enrolled in the trial. A total of 30 522 year 10-12 students received at least 1 dose of 4CMenB. The number of serogroup B IMD cases in 16- to 19-year old adolescents in South Australia increased on average by 10% per year from 2003 to 2016 (95% confidence interval [CI], 6%-15%, P <.001), peaking with 10 cases in 2015. Serogroup B IMD cases reduced to 5 in 2017-2018 and 1 in 2018-2019, below the expected numbers of 9.9 (95% prediction interval [PI], 3.9-17.5) and 10.9 (95% PI, 4.4-19.1), respectively. This translated to an overall reduction in the number of serogroup B IMD cases of 71% (95% CI, 15%-90%, P =.02). There were no serogroup B IMD cases in vaccinated adolescents. Conclusions. Vaccinating adolescents with 4CMenB was associated with a reduction in group B meningococcal disease in South Australia.

Automated summary

The study in South Australia showed that vaccinating adolescents with 4CMenB was associated with a significant reduction in serogroup B invasive meningococcal disease cases, indicating the effectiveness of the vaccine in preventing meningococcal disease in adolescents.