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Complete vaccination with the four-component, protein-based meningococcal serogroup B vaccine (4CMenB; Bexsero) was found to be effective in the prevention of invasive serogroup B and
non-serogroup B disease among children younger than 5 years, a matched case-control study from Spain showed.
In a group of 306 case patients and 1,224 matched controls, effectiveness of complete vaccination (meaning at least two doses of 4CMenB) reached 76% (95% CI 57-87) against invasive
meningococcal disease caused by any serogroup, reported Jesus Castilla, MD, PhD, of the Instituto de Salud Pública de Navarra in Pamplona, and colleagues.
For kids who received one dose of the vaccine (11.4% of the case patients and 24.3% of the controls), effectiveness was 54% (95% CI 18-74), they noted in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Breaking it down by serogroup, complete vaccination was 71% effective against meningococcal serogroup B disease and partial vaccination was 50% effective, while these rates were 92% and 58%,
respectively, for non-serogroup B disease.
"This evidence may be useful in making decisions about the inclusion of this vaccine in the immunization program of countries where invasive meningococcal disease in children is problematic
and its prevention a priority," Castilla and team wrote.
They noted that post-hoc analyses showed no differences in effectiveness among fully vaccinated children according to number of vaccine doses (two or more than two) or the time elapsed since
receipt of the last dose (