PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Meningitis: Vaccination (30 October 2017)

The incidence of meningococcal group C (MenC) disease is very low in infants and young children in the United Kingdom.

In June 2015, our expert committee, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), recommended that children now need two rather than three doses of a vaccine that protects against MenC. As a result the UK vaccination schedule changed from 1 July 2016.

Children no longer have a dose of MenC vaccine at three months of age. However they continue to be protected against group C meningococcal disease through the routine 12-month MenC/Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib) vaccine and the combined vaccine offered as part of the teenage vaccination programme which protects against meningococcal groups A, C, W, and Y. In addition, the Bexsero vaccine used for the Meningocooccal group B infant vaccination programme, offered at two, four and 12 months, may provide some protection against certain strains of MenC.

There are no plans to reintroduce the infant dose of MenC vaccination. The JCVI keeps all programmes under review.