- The ARC - California Edition -

Immunization in the News

Meningococcal Disease Prevention -- College students should be immunized against meningococcal disease, according to a new Policy Statement issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics. This formal recommendation includes the suggestion that the parents and students should be informed during routine prematriculation medical visits about the increased risk of meningococcal diseases and the potential benefits of immunization.

The incidence of meningococcal disease varies with age and is highest during the first year of life. But the numbers of reported cases in 15-24 year-olds have significantly increased during the past decade. An estimated 2,400 to 3,000 cases of invasive meningococcal disease occur each year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Even though this is a relatively low incidence for a disease, deaths have occurred in 14% of the serotype B meningococcal cases surveyed. In a 1990-1 study conducted in Quebec, Canada, researchers found that 11% to 19% of the survivors of meningococcal disease had significant damage, including hearing loss, limb loss, and neurological disabilities.

(Meningococcal Disease Prevention and Control Strategies for Practice-Based Physicians; Pediatrics; Volume 106, Number 6; December 2000).

(Policy Statement: Meningococcal Disease: Recommendations for College Students; RE0035; American Academy of Pediatrics). (http://www/aap/org/policy/re0035.html).

(Complications and Sequelae of Meningococcal Disease in Quebec, Canada, 1990 to 1994; Clinical Infectious Disease; 1998; Volume 28).

MMR Vaccine and Autism – A recent issue of the British Medical Journal contained a paper which had concluded that there was no correlation between the Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) vaccine and the risk of developing autism. This conclusion was based on the finding that the rateof MMR vaccination had remained stable at 95% and virtually constant during the same time period that the study was conducted. According to these researchers, they could not explain the seven-fold increase in risk of the diagnosis of autism which has been occurring during the past decade.

(Mumps, Measles, and Rubella Vaccine and the Incidence of Autism Recorded by General Practitioners: A Time Trend Analysis; James A. Kaye, et al; British Medical Journal; Volume 322, February 24, 2001). 

(http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/322/7284/460).

Annual Disease Report — Immunization is one of the most effective ways of protecting against disease. The level of vaccine-preventable disease has been reduced by more than 99 percent since the introduction of vaccines. Reported cases of such diseases are at, or near, all-time low levels. 
Before widespread immunization in the US, infectious diseases killed or caused severe damage to thousands of children each year. Below is a status report for California and the nation. Attached to this newsletter is the latest revision of The Arc-US fact sheet “Facts About Childhood Immunizations.”