Quebec hopes to avert future outbreaks of meningococcal disease
by providing a free vaccine for infants.
As of Nov. 1, the government will add the meningococcal
serogroup C vaccine to the regular schedule of immunization shots
for one-year-olds.
"As a result of this policy, we will no longer see children and
adolescents dying from this disease," Dr. Yves Robert, an
infectious-diseases consultant to the Quebec Health Department,
said yesterday.
In the spring of 2001, an outbreak of serogroup C meningococcal
disease struck the Quebec City area, infecting 54 children and
adolescents. Eight died and 13 underwent amputations of their
limbs.
Meningococcal disease is often confused with meningitis. The
two are not the same. Meningococcal disease - a bacterial
infection - usually causes septicemia, a form of blood poisoning.
But it can also cause meningitis, an inflammation of the brain
and spinal tissue. Meningitis can also be caused by other germs or
viruses. It is septicemia that deprives the limbs of oxygen,
requiring amputation.
Following the outbreak, the government carried out a mass
vaccination campaign in the fall of 2001. A total of 1.5 million
children and adolescents were given the meningococcal shot.
Robert said Quebec's immunization committee didn't want to take
any chances with future generations and decided to add the potent
vaccine to the regular immunization schedule.
Every Quebec child who turns one is eligible for free shots to
guard against a wide range of infectious diseases, including the
measles and mumps - and, as of Nov. 1, meningococcal disease.
It will cost taxpayers $4 million a year for the vaccine. Other
free vaccines, including the influenza vaccine for the elderly and
children, cost up to $29 million a year. Pediatricians and general
practitioners will administer the new shots.
Quebec will become only the third jurisdiction in the world -
after Great Britain and Alberta - to provide that vaccine free,
Robert said.
aderfel@thegazette.southam.ca
