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October 25, 2002

INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Quebec Extends Free Vaccinations: Meningococcal Disease." Montreal Gazette (www.canada.com/montreal) (10/24/02) P. A6; Derfel, Aaron

Beginning on Nov. 1, the Quebec government will add the meningococcal serogroup C vaccine to the regimen of free childhood immunizations for one-year-olds--hoping, says Dr. Yves Robert, an infectious-diseases consultant to the Quebec Health Department, to eliminate the mortality rate among children and adolescents from the disease.  Last spring, 54 children and adolescents in the Quebec City area were infected in an outbreak of serogroup C meningococcal disease, which resulted in eight deaths and limb amputations for 13 people.  Last year, the government launched a massive vaccination campaign targeting 1.5 million children with the meningococcal injection, but not willing to take any further risk of an outbreak, the region's immunization committee opted to mandate the vaccine.  Taxpayers will pay about C$4 million annually for the vaccine, making Quebec only the third region in the world, behind the United Kingdom and Alberta, to offer the meningococcal vaccine at no cost.

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