Please Sign the Meningitis B Petition to the UK Government

Silhouette Man

Please sign this petition if you are from the UK - thanks!

Petition

Give the Meningitis B vaccine to ALL children, not just newborn babies.

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/108072

Silhouette Man

I believe that two members of my family (a brother and a sister) died of some type meningitis in the one week around a little over a hundred years ago. We have the death notices. The brother died on the day of his sister's funeral, when the family returned home. That must have been unbearably sad.

Here is one of the reasons why signing the petition to make the UK Government act to extend the vaccination programme beyond babies is so very important:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-35596857

Napoleon Plural

I've signed it.

Your personal anecdote goes back a bit, SM.

Silhouette Man

Napoleon Plural wrote:

I've signed it.

Your personal anecdote goes back a bit, SM.

Thank you for signing it, Nap. Much appreciated.

I'm aware that it was an old anecdote but it's still remembered in the family through being passed down - it was fairly shocking at the time I would say - my grandfather's sister and brother. Happily no more recent family members have contracted this awful disease! I guess I just wanted to share that story with you all while I was on the subject.

If I could just say to other members please consider sharing this petition web address on social media like Facebook and Twitter as well to get the maximum possible response. -{

Silhouette Man

stag wrote:

Signed.

Thank you also, stag. -{

Silhouette Man

And here is the government response to the petition:

Dear Brian M,

The Government has responded to the petition you signed – “Give the Meningitis B vaccine to ALL children, not just newborn babies.”.

Government responded:

MenB vaccine is offered to infants, free on the NHS, at 2 months with further doses at 4 and 12 months. The programme, as advised by independent experts, offers protection to those at highest risk.

As the UK, we are proud to have been the first– and to date the only - country in the world to introduce a national, publicly-funded MenB immunisation programme for infants using the Bexsero vaccine. We are leading the world in offering children protection from this devastating disease.

National immunisation programmes are introduced on the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the independent expert body that advises the Government on all immunisation matters. https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/joint-committee-on-vaccination-and-immunisation

JCVI reviewed all available evidence before it advised on eligibility for the Bexsero vaccine. It recommended that MenB immunisation should be routinely offered to the group of children at the highest risk - infants at two months of age with a further dose at four months and a booster at 12 months, provided that the vaccine could be procured at a cost-effective price. There is a duty on the Secretary of State for Health to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the recommendations of the JCVI, are implemented.

The programme started on 1st September 2015 for those babies due to receive their primary immunisations starting at 2 months of age on or after 1 September 2015 (i.e. those born on or after 1 July 2015). A one off catch-up programme was recommended by JCVI for infants born from 1 May 2015 to 30 June 2015 (aged 3 or 4 months of age when the programme launched) when they attended for their primary immunisation appointments. This ensured that those infants were offered the vaccine before the winter peak of the disease. By May 2017, all children under the age of two years will have been offered the vaccine. The vaccine is also available for a small number of older children and adults who are at increased risk of infection, such as those with no spleen. Early indications are that the vaccine has been very well accepted by parents and coverage is likely to be high.

With this programme, our priority is to protect those children most at risk of MenB, in line with JCVI’s recommendation. The NHS budget is a finite resource. It is therefore essential that JCVI’s recommendations are underpinned by evidence of cost-effectiveness. Offering the vaccine outside of JCVI’s advice would not be cost effective, and would not therefore represent a good use of NHS resources which should be used to benefit the health and care of the most people possible.

When any new immunisation programme is introduced, there has to be a cut-off date to determine eligibility. While this is extremely difficult for parents whose children aren’t eligible there is no other way of establishing new programmes to target those at highest risk without introducing inequalities. This approach is supported by the best evidence and by independent recommendations. JCVI considered older age groups (1-4 year olds) but did not advise a catch-up programme in view of the marginal cost-effectiveness of even the infant programme. JCVI considered that the priority should be the implementation of the primary immunisation programme for infants. They also considered a programme for adolescents but advised that further research was needed Preparatory research has been commissioned and is underway.

There are many bacterial, viral and other causes of meningitis (inflammation of the lining of the brain and surrounding tissues) and septicaemia (blood poisoning). Successful vaccination programmes have already reduced the risk of these serious diseases. Current rates of group B meningococcal disease are low. In the early 2000s there were more than 1,600 cases in England, compared to around 400 cases in 2014.

The vaccine should provide direct protection against MenB for infants and those who are at increased risk of meningococcal disease. However, not all strains of the group B meningococcal bacteria are covered by this vaccine and cases can still occur in vaccinated infants and children. There are also other strains of meningococcal disease for which there is currently no vaccine. It therefore remains important for parents to be alert to the symptoms of meningococcal disease such as fever, blotchy skin, refusal to feed, irritability, cold hands and feet, rash, muscle pain, and a stiff body with jerky movements or else floppy and lifeless. They should trust their instincts and seek urgent medical attention if they have concerns.

Department of Health

Click this link to view the response online:

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/108072?reveal_response=yes

This petition has over 100,000 signatures. The Petitions Committee will consider it for a debate. They can also gather further evidence and press the government for action.

The Committee is made up of 11 MPs, from political parties in government and in opposition. It is entirely independent of the Government. Find out more about the Committee: https://petition.parliament.uk/help#petitions-committee

Thanks,
The Petitions team
UK Government and Parliament

Thunderpussy

Sadly it's all about saving money. The government are happy for the likes of Google, Amazon or Starbucks
to avoid paying tax, yet try and save a pittance by cutying back on vaccinations.

Silhouette Man

Thunderpussy wrote:

Sadly it's all about saving money. The government are happy for the likes of Google, Amazon or Starbucks
to avoid paying tax, yet try and save a pittance by cutying back on vaccinations.

I know, what more can one do but sign the petition and raise awareness of the issue. The only hope that I can see is that this petition gets debated in Parliament as the Petition Committee has it within their power to do this.

Sadly though it looks liked it will not be extended - there is neither the reserves of the hard to attain Meningitis B vaccine or the available money in the NHS budget.

I agree wholeheartedly that those companies mentioned not paying their proper rate of tax is an iniquitous thing that is putting the lives of UK children at risk from this awful disease. Such is the dirty game of politics it would seem.