title: Effectiveness of a vaccination programme for an epidemic of meningococcal B in New Zealand.
abstract: New Zealand has experienced a prolonged epidemic of meningococcal B disease since 1991. The epidemic has waned significantly since its most recent peak in 2001. A strain-specific vaccine, MeNZB, was introduced to control the epidemic in 2004, achieving 81% coverage of people under the age of 20. The vaccine was rolled out in a staged manner allowing the comparison of disease rates in vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals in each year. Vaccine effectiveness in people aged under 20 years is estimated using a Poisson regression model in the years 2001-2008, including adjustments for year, season, age, ethnicity, region and socioeconomic status. Further analyses investigate the dose response relationship, waning of the vaccine effect after one year, and cross-protection against other strains of meningococcal disease. The primary analysis estimates MeNZB vaccine effectiveness to be 77% (95% CI 62-85) after 3 doses and a mean follow-up time of 3.2 years. There is evidence for a protective effect after 2 doses 47% (95% CI 16-67), and no evidence for a waning of effectiveness after one year. Simultaneous modelling of invasive pneumococcal disease and epidemic strain meningococcal B suggests a degree of residual confounding that reduces the effectiveness estimate to 68%. There is evidence for some cross-protection of MeNZB against non-epidemic strains. The MeNZB vaccine was effective against the New Zealand epidemic strain of meningococcal B disease. Between July 2004 and December 2008 an estimated 210 epidemic strain cases (95% CI 100-380), six deaths and 15-30 cases of severe sequelae were avoided in New Zealand due to the introduction of the MeNZB vaccine.
authors.affiliation: School of Mathematics, Statistics and Operations Research, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington 6140, New Zealand. Richard.Arnold@vuw.ac.nz
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Arnold
authors.forename: Yvonne
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Galloway
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: McNicholas
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: O'Hallahan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D056738:Cross Protection / Q000276:immunology; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D017589:Immunization Programs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007115:Immunization Schedule; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008585:Meningitis, Meningococcal / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008589:Meningococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D022401:Meningococcal Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000276:immunology; D038541:Neisseria meningitidis, Serogroup B / Q000276:immunology*; D009520:New Zealand / Q000453:epidemiology; D014611:Vaccination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D022401:Meningococcal Vaccines