ATLANTA — The meningococcal working group of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices “believes that the ACIP should consider not adding meningococcal conjugate vaccines to the routine infant vaccine schedule at this time,” said working group member Dr. Amanda Cohn.
At its fall meeting, the ACIP discussed safety and epidemiology data on meningococcal vaccines in development for infants. These products have not yet been licensed.
The low burden of meningococcal disease in infants raises the question of whether every vaccine that is shown to be safe and effective should be recommended if the burden of disease is low, said Dr. H. Cody Meissner, chair of the working group.
The last ACIP recommendations for meningococcal vaccines were published in May 2005, and an update is planned for 2010, he noted.