Meningococcal Disease

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Meningococcal Disease

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Meningococcal Disease in New Zealand
www.moh.govt.nz/meningococcal

Meningococcal disease is a serious bacterial infection caused by a bacterium (germ) Neisseria meningitidis, known as a meningococcus. It causes severe illnesses including:

meningitis (an infection of membranes that cover the brain)
septicaemia (blood poisoning).

Meningococcal disease is a serious disease and can sometimes cause death or permanent disability such as deafness or disfigurement.

Since 1991 there have been persistently elevated rates of meningococcal B disease in New Zealand. Rates have been decreasing since 2001 but the disease is still circulating.

A mass immunisation programme campaign started in 2004 to protect New Zealanders under the age of 20 from a New Zealand specific strain causing most cases of the disease. That programme ended in 2006, although the vaccine continued to be offered to pre-schoolers until 2008.

In that time more than 1.1 million young New Zealanders received the MeNZB™ vaccine. The vaccine is still available for people considered to be at heightened risk of meningococcal disease.

More information on the ending of Meningococcal B immunisation programme is provided:

on the Beehive website - Successful MeNZB campaign comes to an end (www.beehive.govt.nz).
on the Immunisation Advisory Centre website - Meningococcal MeNZB™ epidemic vaccine programme ends (www.immune.org.nz).

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Page last updated 15 April 2008