How you can help prevent Infant Meningitis

Meningococcal disease, also called meningitis, is a sudden and very aggressive illness that can kill a previously healthy child within 24-48 hours of the first symptoms, which typically start out as non-specific and mimic symptoms of the flu. Infants younger than one year old are at a disproportionately higher risk for contracting meningococcal meningitis due to their less sophisticated immune systems. While vaccines exist to protect against this deadly disease, they are not currently universally recommended for infants.

Meningococcal Meningitis a leading cause of preventable infant death in the U.S.  One out of 16 infants who contract the disease will not survive.  Among survivors, one in five will suffer seizures, blindness, amputation, paralysis or learning disabilities.

Meningitis Angels  is an organization dedicated to raising awareness about meningitis and other vaccine-preventable diseases.  They are hoping to spread awareness about meningococcal meningitis through  “Protect Infants Now” (PIN), a campaign aimed at encouraging the government to recommend the current meningococcal meningitis vaccines be given to infants. Through the online PIN petition, Meningitis Angels wants to encourage the CDC to include meningitis vaccines in the recommended vaccination schedule for infants.

In preparing this article I took a little time to research meningococcal meningitis, and found out that, in the US, the vaccine isn’t administered until early adolescence.  In the UK this vaccine, which has been shown to be safe and effective for infants, is a part of the regular vaccination schedule for infants and can be administered as early as 2 months old.

An infant’s body can quickly be ravaged by this vaccine preventable disease. Please, visit Protect infants Now and sign the petition.  It only took me about 20 seconds to do.  PIN currently needs about 1700 more signatures to send the petition to the CDC.

Disclosure: I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central and Meningitis Angels. This campaign was made possible in part through support provided by Novartis Vaccines. A small donation to a charity of my choice was made in my name from Mom Central as a thank-you for participating. All opinions in this posting are 100% my own.