Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputies Brassil and Thomas Byrne for raising this important issue and for the opportunity to update the House on it, which has been the subject of recent media coverage. Invasive meningococcal disease is a vaccine-preventable disease which may present as meningitis or blood poisoning, and has a high mortality rate if untreated. It may occur at any age but is most common in infancy and early childhood with an additional smaller peak of disease activity in adolescents and young adults. There are five primary serogroups of the neisseria meningitidis bacteria that cause meningococcal disease. Group B and group C are the most common forms in Ireland.

The immunisation programme is based on the advice of the national immunisation advisory committee, NIAC. The NIAC is a committee of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland which comprises experts from a number of specialties, including infectious diseases, paediatrics and public health. The meningitis C vaccine was introduced in Ireland in 2000 to the infant immunisation schedule at two, four and six months of age. In 2014, the NIAC updated guidance relating to meningitis C vaccination. The committee recommended that two doses of meningitis C vaccine be given in early childhood and that an adolescent dose be given at 12 or 13 years of age.

In 2015, the NIAC recommended that the meningitis B vaccine be included in the primary childhood immunisation programme if the vaccine could be made available at a cost-effective price. Meningitis B disease is most common in babies under the age of one, of which the scheduling of the administration of the vaccine under the immunisation programme takes account. The change recommended by the NIAC took effect from 1 December 2016 and the meningitis B vaccine is now given at two, four and 12 months of age. Ireland was the second country in Europe to make the meningitis B vaccine available free of charge as part of its national immunisation programme. There are no plans to introduce a catch-up programme for older children.

A total of 89 meningococcal cases were notified in 2018. Some 11 cases of meningitis have been notified to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre since the last week of December, with three deaths notified among these cases. The 11 cases notified compare with five cases for the same period last year. Importantly, the HSE has noted that this does not represent an outbreak but instead reflects the known increased incidence of the disease in winter and early spring. Provisional data on the strain types identified indicate that different strains of the disease are circulating. In the cases of the three deaths, two different strain types were identified, neither of which was meningitis B.

In June 2018, the chair of the NIAC wrote to the Department to advise that it is engaged in a review of the epidemiology of meningococcal disease in Ireland and that it will develop recommendations based on these findings. The Department awaits the outcome of the NIAC’s deliberations. Parents are strongly advised to ensure their children are immunised according to the vaccination programme. Information on the disease and the immunisation program are available on the HSE’s website.

See this speech in context