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The UK was the first place to introduce meningococcal serogroup C conjugate (MCC) vaccines. From November, 1999, all people younger than 18 years, about 14 million individuals, were offered MCC immunisation. The uptake rate was more than 70% by November, 2000. We compared the carriage of meningococci in isolates we obtained from 14,064 students aged 15-17 years during vaccination in 1999, with those from 16,583 students of the same age surveyed 1 year later. Carriage of serogroup C meningococci was reduced by 66% (p=0.004). Our results show that MCC vaccines protect against carriage of meningococci that express serogroup C polysaccharide capsules.

Original publication

DOI

10.1016/S0140-6736(02)08679-8

Type

Journal article

Journal

Lancet

Publication Date

25/05/2002

Volume

359

Pages

1829 - 1831

Keywords

Adolescent, Carrier State, Humans, Meningococcal Vaccines, Neisseria meningitidis, United Kingdom