Two Meningitis B Vaccines Have Been Approved in the US. So Why Are Young People Still Dying From It?

Three mothers who have lost college-age children to the disease speak out.

June 12, 2019
Health Magazine

SUMMARY

When it came to her sons’ medical care, Aracelly Bibl did everything right. She prioritized the health of her three boys, knew their pediatrician's phone number by heart, and made sure they were up to date on their recommended vaccinations.

But all of her diligence still didn't protect her oldest child, Joseph Clouse, from meningitis B, which killed him this past February. He was 18 years old.

His obituary says simply, “Joseph Tyler Clouse was stolen from us within a matter of hours on February 13, 2019, due to meningococcal septicaemia, caused by a rare and aggressive form of bacterial meningitis B."

Clouse isn’t the first otherwise healthy young adult to be killed by meningitis B—an inflammation of the linings of the brain and spinal cord that can be caused by bacteria or a virus. But it's especially heartbreaking, because a vaccine that could have prevented him from contracting this dangerous illness came on the market in the US five years ago.

Read the full article “Two Meningitis B Vaccines Have Been Approved in the US. So Why Are Young People Still Dying From It?”