Babies are to be given an extra jab in their early weeks to protect them against deadly pneumococcal infections, the Chief Medical Officer announced today.
Sir Liam Donaldson said that the new routine vaccination against pneumococcal infections, which kill about 50 children a year and leave many more severely disabled, might be available as early as April.
Babies will be given the new pneumococcal jab at two, four and 13 months.
“Pneumococcal infection can cause very serious illness such as meningitis and pneumonia, as well as being one of the most common bacterial causes of ear infections,” said Sir Liam.
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“The under 2s are a particular risk group. The new vaccine will save lives and prevent hundreds more cases of serious illness and disability in both the young and old as well as reducing the need for medical care.”
According to Department of Health figures there are about 5,000 cases of invasive pneumococcal infections - when the infection enters the bloodstream - in England and Wales each year, 530 of them in children under the age of two.
Pneumococcal infection can lead to pneumonia, septicaemia and, in about one third of cases, to pneumococcal meningitis. Patients are often left with deafness, seizures and long-term brain damage. Infections can be difficult to spot because patients do not normally get the rash which is typical of the most common kind of meningitis, meningococcal.
Some countries, including the US and Australia, already provide a vaccine, which is understood to retail at up to £40 a dose - much more than other childhood vaccines. A DoH spokesman said that the cost of the jab would be negotiated with Wyeth, the manufacturer, and the cost to the taxpayer would be a lot lower.
Sir Liam said that the health benefits outweighed the costs. “We have already seen the immense impact this programme has had in the US. Since its introduction, cases in young children caused by the strains in the vaccine have fallen by 94 per cent, and cases in the over 65s have dropped by two thirds.”
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Sir Liam announced two further changes to childhood vaccinations, to protect babies better against Meningitis C and Hib disease. The Meningitis C vaccine, currently given at two, three and four months, will in future be administered at three, four and 12 months, after research showed that the protection it offers tends to wane after a year.
“To maximise the protection in the first two years of life when the risk of infection is high, we will offer doses at three and four months of age and a booster dose at 12 months,” said Sir Liam.
In addition, an extra booster dose of Hib vaccine will also be given at 12 months, in addition to the jabs at two, three and four months, after its effect too was shown to wane with time.
Philip Kirby, the chief executive of the Meningitis Trust said: “Vaccination is the only way to prevent meningitis and we welcome this announcement as it will help save lives. Pneumococcal meningitis is a devastating disease - 20 per cent of those who get it will die and a further 25 per cent will suffer severe after-effects.”
Denise Vaughan, the chief executive of the Meningitis Research Foundation, said: “We are delighted with the news that the government is introducing these vaccines into the childhood immunisation schedule. We know it will save many young lives and we also hope to see benefits in the wider population. However, not all forms of meningitis and septicaemia are vaccine preventable, so the public still need to be aware of their symptoms”.
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The reforms mean that in future, babies will face a total of ten vaccinations, spaced out between the ages of two and 13 months.