Meningitis vaccine could have saved Lower Sackville boy

The Lower Sackville boy who died of meningitis this week was infected with a strain of bacteria that could have been covered by routine vaccines.

However, Nova Scotia offers the more limited of two types of meningitis vaccines that are available.

The Y strain that killed the Grade 10 student is covered by a "preferable" broader childhood meningitis vaccine used in Alberta, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario, P.E.I., and Saskatchewan, according to the Meningitis Research Foundation of Canada.

Nova Scotia is one of the provinces that has opted for a narrower vaccine that doesn’t include the Y strain. 

Capital Health announced Tuesday, a day after the Grade 10 student’s death, that at least 45 people will be given a special vaccine including the Y strain in order to prevent the further spread of the disease.

The province is considering switching to the more comprehensive vaccine for Grade 7 students, said Department of Health and Wellness spokesman Tony Kiritsis.

He said he'd speak further about the issue Wednesday, answering why they weren't already using the vaccine, and when they started considering the switch. 

No increased risk to general population

In the wake of the death, any member of the public can also choose to take the more comprehensive vaccine, said Capital Health in a news release.

People who didn’t have close contact with the teen are at no increased risk of meningitis, said the health authority.

The people about to be vaccinated against the Y strain are part of the same group who were already put on preemptive antibiotics in the wake of the boy’s diagnosis, said Capital Health spokesman Everton McLean.

However, the vaccine will provide necessary protection for those people after the antibiotics, he said.

Meningitis is present in up to 10 per cent of the population without making them sick, but the bacteria can make other people very ill when it’s passed along.

It’s unclear how the Lower Sackville victim came into contact with the bacteria, but that unknown source could still be a danger for those people in the boy’s circle of contacts, said McLean.

"The vaccine prevents, over the next several months, the likelihood of developing the disease," he said.

"This cohort has been in contact [with the infected boy] and statistically they're at a slightly higher risk because of that."

People can buy the vaccine themselves

The group will be given the vaccine soon, probably within the next several days, said McLean.

Members of the public who want the vaccine can ask their family doctor to prescribe it, said the release. They would then buy it themselves at a pharmacy, though the cost isn't mentioned.

Capital Health has no other confirmed cases of meningitis. Anyone concerned that they may have been directly exposed to the illness can reach a public health nurse at 902-481-5800.

Nova Scotia sees four or fewer cases of meningitis per year, said McLean.

Most meningitis cases in Canada are caused by a group of bacteria, called group B, for which there is no vaccine, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.

All meningitis vaccines lose effectiveness over time, according to the agency's website. Among teens who get the comprehensive vaccine, its effectiveness three to four years later is 80 to 85 per cent.