After the death of a person who had contracted meningitis C, ARS Bretagne recalls the importance of vaccination against this disease which kills 10% of patients.
A death which reminds us that the specter of meningitis C is still alive in Brittany. A patient in his thirties succumbed to an invasive meningococcal infection. The Regional Health Agency (ARS) recalled the crucial role of vaccination in the fight against the disease.
Brittany has been particularly affected by meningitis C since 2012, the date of installation of a particularly virulent strain. That year, a dozen cases were declared, which prompted the launch of a campaign to promote vaccination in Finistère. Since the beginning of the year, it has extended to the whole region. Thanks to it, vaccination coverage in 1-24 year olds has increased from 21 to 48%. But this remains largely insufficient, when we know that meningitis C kills one in ten patients.
Under-vaccination concerns the whole of France: a Weekly Epidemiological Bulletin (BEH) reported vaccination coverage of barely 50% in toddlers (1-4 years), 30% in 5-9 years and 3% among young adults. However, in France, since 2010, the vaccine against meningococcus C is recommended from 12 months and up to 24 years. Direct consequence: the number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants has doubled in this population. And if meningitis C is not the most common in France, it is undoubtedly the most fatal.
.
