Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-zzh7m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T01:21:32.218Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Vaccination campaign against meningococcal disease in army recruits in Italy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2009

T. Stroffolini
T. Stroffolini
Affiliation:
Laboratory and Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Istituto Superiore Sanità, Rome, Italy
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

A high attack rate (17·3/100 000) of meningococcal disease in army recruits in Italy, with 95% of the cases due to serogroup C, constituted the motivating factors to make bivalent serogroup A + C meningococcal vaccination compulsory by law for army recruits starting January 1987. Because the vaccine was given only to the new recruits entering the army, full coverage was not achieved until January 1988. Nearly 900 000 subjects (300 000 yearly) were vaccinated between January 1987 and December 1989. There were no reports of any untoward reactions to the vaccine. Of the 300 000 recruits in service each year, 52, 21, 15, 5 and 4 cases of the disease occurred in 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988 and 1989, respectively (P < 0·001).

Of the 24 cases occurring since the start of the vaccination, only two (due to serogroup C) were attributable to vaccine failure. The remaining cases were in unvaccinated recruits (15 cases) or were due to serogroups other than A or C (7 cases). The cumulative incidence of meningococcal serogroup C in the 600 000 vaccinated recruits during the period 1988–89 was 0·2/100 000 (1 case amongst 600 000 recruits), while the corresponding figure in the 600 000 unvaccinatred recruits during the period 1985–6 was 11·3/100000 (68 cases amongst 600 000 recruits) (P < 0·001). The protective efficacy of the vaccine in 1987 was 91·2% (12 cases of meningococcal serogroup A and C disease from an average of 150 000 unvaccinated recruits observed for 1 year, and 1 case from the corresponding average of 150 000 vaccinated ones). In 1988 and in 1989 this figure could not be calculated because all recruits were vaccinated.

The incidence of meningitis caused by other serogroups of meningococci remained low, both before and after the mass vaccination campaign.

Type
Research Article
Information
Epidemiology & Infection , Volume 105 , Issue 3 , December 1990 , pp. 579 - 583
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

References

REFERENCES

1.Peltola, H. Meningococcal disease: Still With us. Rev Infect Dis 1983; 5: 71–91.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2.Stroffolini, T, Rosmini, F, Curianò, CM. A one year survey of meningococcal disease in Italy. Eur J Epidemiol 1987; 3: 399–403.Google Scholar
3.Stroffolini, T, Curianò, CM, Congiu, ME, Occhionero, M, Mastrantonio, P. Trends in meningococcal disease in Italy in 1986. Public Health 1988; 102; 115–9.Google Scholar
4.Nikoskelaiven, J, Leino, A, Toivanen, A. Is group specific meningococcal vaccination resulting in epidemics caused by other groups of virulent meningococci? Lancet 1978; ii: 403–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5.Artenstein, NS, Winter, PE, Gold, R, Smith, CD. Immunoprophylaxis of meningococcal infection. Militar Med 1974; 139: 91–5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6.Makela, PH, Kayhty, H, Weckstrom, P, Sivonen, A. Effect of Group A meningococcal vaccine in army recruits in Finland. Lancet 1985; ii: 883–6.Google Scholar
7.Makela, PH, Peltola, H. Group specific meningococcal vaccination and epidemics caused by other groups of meningococci. Lancet 1978; ii: 780–1.Google Scholar