Meningitis Vaccine Discovered And Approved

Given how much press meningitis receives, it's odd that the discovery of a vaccine in Italy wasn't reported here in Canada as far as I know.

Excerpt:

An all-Italian team of researchers has produced the first combined vaccine to protect against four of the five most dangerous strains of meningitis, the serogroups A, C, W135 and Y, reports Corriere della Sera.


The Swiss vaccine company Novartis, which also has a branch in Siena and produced a vaccine against meningitis C in 2008, has been given the green light to supply the new vaccine to pharmacies in Italy. It will be available to children over the age of eleven whose parents are in possession of a prescription from a paediatrician. Novartis coordinator Rino Rappuoli has explained that the vaccine contains a protein carrier which increases the body’s defences against the disease.

The vaccine was given a green light from U.S. and European agencies. Not sure about Canada.