UK Officials Change Their Mind About Meningitis B Shot

A vaccine that protects against a deadly form of meningitis will soon be made available to children in the United Kingdom after health officials recommended that the vaccination be put to use.

The U.K.'s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI) expressed its approval for a meningitis B vaccine on Friday. This is a change in opinion of the vaccine, after the committee called the vaccine not cost-effective enough for recommended use just last year.

The vaccine, which will be administered for immunization in newborns, has reportedly proven effective against 73 percent of known strains of meningitis B, according to BBC News.

Meningitis is a bacterial infection of the meninges -- the membrane that lines the inside of the human skull and encompasses the spinal cord. Infants under one year old are at the highest risk of infection from Meningitis B, especially at five to six months old.

An infection from meningitis B commonly causes inflammation of the brain and spinal cord and has been found to leave life-altering adverse effects in 25 percent of infected infants.

Recent statistics have indicated that a little under 2,000 people contract meningitis B in the U.K. annually, which was one of the driving concerns the JCVI has about a vaccine's cost-effective nature. Of those few infections, only one in ten even die from the condition, but an alarming enough number of infants are left with brain damage or loss of limb control to still raise concerns.

With the JCVI's new approval, around 700,000 infants will be made eligible for immunization each year. Vaccinations will be available to administer to children and young as 2 months old.

The decision was made after new statistical evidence showed JCVI officials that the vaccine was adequately effective in preventing meningitis B infections. The new vaccine was also deemed cost-effective after plans to push down the vaccination's purchase-price were made clear by the developer of the vaccination, Novartis.

According to Novartis, the vaccine, called Bexsero, is through to be the only meningitis vaccine that can effectively protect against meningitis B.

Bexsero was first licensed for use in Europe in January 2013, but had been waiting on approval from health officials before it could be sold in the U.K.