Vaccines to Prevent Bacterial Meningitis in Children

Vaccines are among the most effective public health interventions available. Global eradication of smallpox infection, the elimination of polio from the Western hemisphere, and dramatic reductions in diseases like diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, measles, mumps, rubella, varicella, rotavirus, hepatitis A and B have all been achieved through immunization programs. The public health impact of well-structured immunization programs is well appreciated, but logistic and financial obstacles can interfere with vaccine availability and delivery. The frequency and severity of bacterial meningitis in children has also been favorable impacted by the widespread use of vaccines in all areas of the world where resources have allowed them to be implemented since the three most common causes of childhood meningitis, Haemophilus influenzae type B (HIB), pneumococcus, and meningococcus, are now, at least partially, vaccine preventable. In developed countries of the world, vaccines for all three of these bacterial infections are now considered the standard of care. Substantial progress is also being made in resource poor countries where, slowly and surely, the public health impact of immunization programs is being appreciated and international assistance to provide the money and knowledge needed for widespread vaccine delivery is being realized.