The meningitis B vaccine will be introduced to the routine childhood vaccination programme, the Scottish Government has announced.
The vaccination will offer protection against the life-
Scotland Manager of Meningitis Research Foundation, Mary Millar said the jabs will "spare countless families the trauma of seeing a loved one die or left seriously disabled by meningitis and septicaemia.”
The vaccination will be given in three doses at two, four and 12 months.
Additionally, a vaccine against the A, C, W and Y strains will be introduced to replace the MenC vaccine for adolescents.
From August that vaccine will be offered to students under the age of 25 attending
university for the first time this Autumn, along with a catch-
Health Secretary Shona Robison said: “These two new vaccination programmes will offer families in Scotland extra peace of mind.
"We’re delighted to be one of the first countries in the world to introduce a nationwide MenB vaccination programme to help tackle the effects of this disease, which can be devastating for children and their families."
Around 1,200 people – mainly babies and children – get meningitis B each year in the UK, and around one in 10 die from the infection.
Babies and teenagers to be offered meningitis jab
21 June 2015