Committee concludes that new meningitis vaccine is safe and should be offered to pregnant women
28 January 2011 - Following review of the data for the meningococcal A conjugate vaccine, MenAfriVac, collected in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger in September 2010, WHO's Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety concluded, at its meeting of 8-9 December 2010, that there appeared to be no outstanding safety issues related to its use. As the vaccine is currently administered in campaign settings and had not been clinically evaluated among pregnant women, the question of restricting the vaccination of women in this group was considered by the Committee. Consideration was also given to the risk-benefit of providing the vaccine to lactating women. Given the clear benefits of the vaccine, the increased risk of disease in the geographical area, past experience using similar vaccines in comparable conditions, and the lack of alternative ways of protecting pregnant women from epidemic meningitis, the Committee supported WHO’s technical guidance that MenAfriVac should be offered to pregnant and lactating women residing in the meningitis belt during any stage of pregnancy or lactation. However, the Committee emphasized the need for additional post-marketing surveillance to provide more complete information about the safety profile of the vaccine, including its effects in specific groups, especially pregnant women.
Other issues discussed by the Committee were results of post-marketing studies concerning a potential increased risk of intussusception following use of rotavirus vaccines, and the safety of pandemic influenza vaccines.