Chief Health Officer Dr. Lamont Sweet announced today that PEI is the first Canadian province to add Menactra vaccine to its immunization schedule to protect against Meningococcal disease which can cause meningitis and other serious illnesses. The vaccine will be offered to all Grade 9 students across PEI this school year.
There are several different groups of Meningococcal bacteria and the new Menactra vaccine provides protection against four of these including Groups A, C, Y and W-135 . Menactra will replace the current Meningococcal vaccine administered to Grade 9 students which provided protection for Group C disease.
“We are pleased to offer this vaccine to Island youth because it provides longer lasting immunity and improved protection,“ said Dr. Sweet. “Although illness due to Group C Meningococcal disease is still the most common in Canada, we have seen an increase in cases due to groups Y and W-135. “
Since 1990, there have been 17 cases of serious Meningococcal illness in PEI. From 1990 to 1992, a Group C Meningococcal bacteria outbreak resulted in 11 cases of illness including 3 deaths. The vaccine available in 1992 did not provide long-lasting protection against Meningococcal diseases. In 2003, a Meningococcal vaccine was introduced for children aged 12 months and for Grade 9 students which provided improved protection against meningococcal Group C disease. Now this new Menactra vaccine provides long-lasting immunity against four groups of Meningococcal disease.
The vaccine will only be available for Grade 9 students as it is not yet licenced for children less than 2 years of age – they will continue to receive the Group C vaccine.