Parents of the HS Class of 2024 (Part 2)

[ColdWombat]

I agree. Regardless of requirements, teens should get the MenA and MenB series of vaccines.

Back when I was in high school, a healthy football player in my school died with no warning from meningococcemia. The tragedy shook our school and community. A close classmate was also sickened and nearly died. She missed a full year of school. The onset is VERY fast and it’s easy to mistake for other illnesses. It’s not common, but it’s not rare enough to take the risk of passing up the vaccine.

Here’s a link to a post I made last year about the vaccines:

Parents of the HS Class of 2023 (Part 2)

Just a reminder that incoming freshmen should get their Meningitis B vaccines. Your kid has probably NOT had this shot already. It’s different than the Meningitis ACWY vaccine that most of your kids have likely had already. Those were the serogroups that previously sickened students the most, so that vaccine is often required in high schools and colleges. Nowadays, Meningitis B is the dominant serogroup, but vaccine requirements haven’t caught up to that change. Some colleges require the Men B vaccine, but most don’t. This disease isn’t super common, but it can kill otherwise healthy people VERY fast. If they get the first dose of Bexsero soon, they can get the second dose 1 month later and have both done before they go off to college. Call their pediatrician or your local health department to schedule their first dose today.

Also, as far as I know, both Men B vaccines are 2-dose. Bexsero doses are separated by 1 month, while Trumenba doses are 6 months apart. Menactra is the ACWY serogroups and used to be 2 doses, but can now be done in one.

There are ABCWY serogroups, and the ACWY shot(s) plus the B shot(s) will give full coverage. I really wish there was better info communicated to parents about the B shot. Hardly any kids get it (~30% for Men B vs ~90% for Men ACWY).