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Meningococcal
infection is relatively rare but it is still the most common
infectious cause of death in children and young people up
to the age of 20(1).
The Agency was
commissioned by the Department of Health, Social Services
and Public Safety (DHSSPS) to design and implement a major
public information campaign to support a regional vaccination
programme against meningitis C in 1999/2000.
The Agency's
public information campaign was launched in November 1999
by the DHSSPS and involved extensive television and radio
advertising as well as the production of more than 1 million
leaflets giving information about the meningitis C vaccine.
This leaflet
was also translated into five minority ethnic languages -
Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Hindi and Urdu. Copies of these
translations were distributed by a number of minority ethnic
community groups, including the Multi-Cultural Resource Centre
and the Chinese Welfare Association.
During the year-long
programme, the vaccine was offered to all children and young
people under the age of 18. Reports
from the Communicable
Disease Surveillance Centre CDSC (NI), based on the Enhanced
Surveillance of Meningococcal Disease (ESMD), showed a dramatic
decrease in the numbers of cases of meningitis C since the
introduction of meningitis C immunisation. Between January
2001 and June 2001, there were no cases of Group C infection
in children under 2 years of age. During the epidemiological
year 2000/2001 there were no reports of any individuals with
confirmed serogroup C infections who were known to have been
vaccinated with the meningitis C vaccine.
On 21 January
2002, the DHSSPS announced that the meningococcal C vaccine
would now available for everyone aged under 25 years. The
HPA assisted the DHSSPS in bringing this change in policy
to the attention of the target age group.
(1)Office for
National Statistics. Mortality Statistics: Childhood, Infant
and Perinatal, England and Wales. 1997, Series DH3, no.30,
p37.
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