How meningococcal bacteria spread

Your child can get meningococcal disease from typical teenage activities

Your teenager can catch meningococcal disease in the most innocent of ways. Sharing a sip of water. Borrowing lip gloss. Using a friend’s fork or spoon. Kissing. Any activity where respiratory secretions, throat secretions, or saliva are exchanged.1,2

  • Crowded living conditions, like camps or dormitories, may also be a risk factor3
  • Surprisingly, about 15% of people can carry meningococcal bacteria in their throat. While most people who carry the bacteria don’t become sick, they can pass it along to other people through sharing, without even knowing it1
  • First symptoms often seem like a cold or the flu, so it’s easy to misdiagnose. Even with appropriate treatment, it could cause death in as little as 24-48 hours from onset of symptoms1,4
  • Meningococcal disease may be rare, but it’s so deadly that you don’t want to take a chance4
Indication

Menveo is a vaccine indicated for active immunization to prevent invasive meningococcal disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis serogroups A, C, Y, and W-135. Menveo is approved for use in persons 2 to 55 years of age. Menveo does not prevent N. meningitidis serogroup B infections.

Important Safety Information

You should not receive Menveo if you have had a severe allergic reaction to any ingredient of the vaccine, or if you have had a severe allergic reaction to a vaccine containing similar components as Menveo.

Side effects to Menveo include pain at the injection site, headache, muscle pain, fatigue, nausea, and fainting. Sometimes fainting is accompanied by falling with injury. Other side effects may occur.

Following vaccination with another US-licensed meningococcal conjugate vaccine, an evaluation of postmarketing adverse events suggested a potential for increased risk of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS). There is not enough information to evaluate if a risk of GBS exists following administration of Menveo.

Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or planning to get pregnant.

Vaccination with Menveo may not protect all individuals.

For more information about Menveo, talk to your health-care professional.

Menveo.com has been developed by Novartis Vaccines as part of the company’s commitment to individual and public health.

References

  1. Meningococcal meningitis. World Health Organization Web site. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs141/en/. Accessed March 3, 2010.
  2. Meningitis: Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site. http://www.cdc.gov/meningitis/about/prevention.html. Accessed February 18, 2010.
  3. Meningococcal vaccines: What you need to know. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site. http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/vis/downloads/vis-mening.pdf. Accessed February 18, 2010.
  4. Meningitis: Myths about meningococcal disease. National Foundation for Infectious Diseases Web site. http://www.nfid.org/meningitis/consumers_myths.html. Accessed March 3, 2010.
  5. Harrison LH, Dwyer DM, Maples CT, et al. Risk of meningococcal infection in college students. JAMA. 1999;281:1906–1910.

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