There's a vaccine for the disease which killed 2-year-old Ryder Manulat.

Update:

Meningitis experts have expressed their extreme disappointment at a decision by the Pharamceutical Advisory Committee to reject the new Meningococcal B vaccine for the national immunisation plan.

The two main strains of meningococcal disease in Australia are the B and C strains. The National Immunisation Program includes a vaccine for the meningococcal C strain but not for the B strain.

Bruce Langoulant Chairman of the Meningitis Centre Australia told Mamamia: “The vaccine which is available by prescription remains out of reach for the majority of vulnerable Australians. It costs over $500 for a baby aged up to 12 months.”

He vowed to continue fighting to have this vaccine including on the NIP.

“Prevention by vaccination has been the key to the successful fight against HiB, Meningococcal C and Pneumococcal meningitis,” he said.

“We hope we will continue to have the support of our Australian political leaders and see this new meningococcal B vaccine on the NIP in the not too distant future.”

Previously, Mamamia wrote:

Little Ryder Manulat didn’t look ill on Tuesday night.

But by Wednesday morning, he had woken up with a rash of pinprick spots all over his body.

By 10am, Ryder had been administered antibiotics and was on life support. And by 2pm that same day, the two-year-old boy with the adorable cheeky grin, was dead.

NSW-born Ryder – who had Down syndrome and was living with heart complications as well – died of the lesser-known B strain of Meningococcal. Sadly, little boy’s death probably could have been prevented — but the vaccine which guards against B strain Meningococcal isn’t included in the National Immunisation Schedule. Ryder’s parents say they didn’t even know the vaccine was available.

“We did everything for Ryder, he was vaccinated for the C strain and he wasn’t vaccinated for the B strain because we weren’t aware it was available until yesterday,” Ryder’s mother told the Daily Telegraph. “With his condition we would have vaccinated for B strain if we’d known,” Ms Manulat said.

While the National Immunisation Scheme currently covers a C strain vaccination, which is provided to all children at no cost, the B strain vaccine isn’t funded by the schedule and must be privately purchased for around $125 per dose. But Ms Manulat said the vaccine, which has only been available in Australia since 5 March, would have been considered by her family as worth the cost.

“We were advised that the B strain vaccine had only just become available and three shots were $150, it is obviously something we would have done for Ryder had we known,” she  told the Newcastle Herald.

Chair of the Council of General Practice of the Australian Medical Association, Dr Brian Morton, told Mamamia that the strain of Menincogoccal that killed Ryder was both relatively common and deadly.

“The B-strain of meningococcal disease is the commonest, and the experts say it accounts for about 90 per cent of Meningococcal cases in Australia,” he said.

“It is a high-risk disease, and if it’s not picked up early and treated early the consequences can be devastating,” he said.

Dr Morton said the vaccine’s recent arrival in Australia was likely a reason why it wasn’t yet available on the children’s vaccination schedule.

He said the process for getting a vaccine onto that schedule begins with expert groups examining the efficacy and safety of a particular vaccine, then recommending it to government.

The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI), Australia’s leading advisory body on immunisation matters, has now kicked that process off – by recommended the meningococcal B vaccine for those at higher disease risk, including infants and young children.

The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee will now consider the inclusion of the vaccine on the National Immunisation Program at its meeting next month, according to the Daily Telegraph.

Ryder’s parents live in hope that authorities go ahead with the move.

“The Australian Pharmaceutical Board are meeting next month to look at adding the Meningococcal B vaccine to the PBS. This will mean all children will be vaccinated against this horrid disease, they wrote on the Facebook page, Upside Down.

“We all knew Ryder would leave a huge footprint on this world.”

Until the vaccine becomes publicly-funded, Dr Morton said: “If people can afford to buy (the vaccine privately), then they maybe should consider it for their kids.”

There have been 11 cases of B strain Meningococcal disease recorded this year.

The Australian Medical Association currently recommends that infants aged less than six months receive three primary doses of 4CMenB, plus a booster dose at twelve months old. Fewer doses are required for older age groups. Fore more informationon Meningococcal, see the Meningococcal Australia website here. Please share this post and help us raise awareness of this vaccine, so that more parents can ensure it is administered to their children.