Kids’ Shots Reduce Adult Meningitis, Too

A childhood vaccine has reduced one form of meningitis in both children and adults, researchers say. The vaccine, Prevnar, was introduced in 2000. It protects against seven strains of pneumococcus bacteria. Those strains cause 8 out of 10 cases of pneumococcal meningitis. They also cause ear infections and pneumonia. The study looked at data on pneumococcal meningitis. It found that cases dropped 30% since 1998. The drop was 64% in children under 2 and 54% in adults 65 and older. Experts said older adults were protected by less disease in the community. The study appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine. Reuters Health news service wrote about it January 15.