A Case Study of Meningococcal Vaccination At a University Hospital

ABSTRACT

Meningococcal infection is a life threatening disease that leaves serious sequelae in spite of appropriate treatment, thus vaccination for high risk groups are important for the prevention of meningococcal diseases. However, the vaccine for Neisseria meningitidis has not been available in Korea until we introduced bivalent (serogroup A and C) polysaccharide vaccine for the first time for relief works in our university hospital. The vaccine was administered from January 2005 to March 2007 to 317 persons. Of the groups administered, the largest group among them were 133 (133/317, 42%) students who planned to study abroad and needed the vaccination for secure entrance to school dormitories. This group was followed by health care workers, travellers to the regions of the world with high risks of meningococcal diseases, and splenectomised patients. To rationalize the domestic use of meningococcal vaccine, the availability of vaccines first needs to be simplified by introducing them to the domestic market; for this to be possible, the approval system for vaccines should be reformed and epidemiogical studies need to be carried out.