16 May 08

After three immunisations, 96 per cent of babies showed a good immune response

Oxford researchers are part of a team reporting encouraging results in a clinical trial of a new meningitis vaccine at a conference in Austria this week.

The new vaccine developed by the pharmaceutical company Novartis offers hope that infants could be protected against the B strain of meningococcal disease. The trial involved 150 babies from the Oxford area and was set up with help from Andrew Pollard and colleagues at the Oxford Vaccine Group.

After a series of three immunizations starting when the babies were 2 months old, 85 per cent, 89 per cent and 96 per cent of the infants showed an immune response that would protect them against three different strains of meningitis B. Now that the extent of protection against different strains of the disease has been shown, the group is starting a large-scale trial of the vaccine.

Meningitis is a particularly frightening contagious disease because it takes hold fast, mostly strikes the young, and can be hard to diagnose. Each year there are approximately 500,000 cases of meningococcal disease worldwide, causing about 50,000 deaths. The B strain of the disease is a leading cause of bacterial meningitis, particularly in Europe where it was responsible for 72 per cent of the cases in 2006.