MenB cases falling in Australia

Researchers have uncovered a steady decline in the number of meningococcal serogroup B cases in Australia since 2001.

The number of cases of the potentially deadly meningococcal serogroup B (MenB) disease have fallen steadily in Australia despite the lack of a vaccine for most of that time.

There were 1.52 cases of the relatively rare but severe form of meningococcal per 100,000 people in 2001, but that dropped to 0.47 per cent per 100,000 people in 2015, researchers from the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance reported in the Medical Journal of Australia on Monday.

A vaccine designed to protect against a broad spectrum of MenB strains has only been available in Australia since 2014.


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Source: AAP



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