Meningococcal vaccine in sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

John Robbins and colleagues1 present an optimistic view of the utility of the group A meningococcal poly-saccharide vaccine and suggest a new immunisation strategy for sub-Saharan Africa. Unfortunately, many qualities they attribute to the vaccine, including efficacy in infants, long-term protection, and induction of herd immunity, are particularly questionable. For example, there are no published data demonstrating protective efficacy of the suggested infant regimen-neither of the two studies that directly address efficacy of infant regimens had adequate statistical power.