Peer-reviewed article
Invasive meningococcal disease in adolescents in Europe and select geographies: Disease burden, unmet medical need, and optimizing prevention.
Anar Andani, Victoria Abbing-Karahagopian, Justina Kavaliauskaite, Thierry Oliver Schaffner, Woo-Yun Sohn et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001Invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) is a serious but uncommon infection with high fatality and disability rates, affecting adolescents and young adults (aged 15-24) as a second peak population. Vaccination policies and coverage for IMD prevention vary widely across Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Brazil, with existing vaccines significantly underutilized. Adolescents are difficult to reach for vaccination due to low perceived risk, reduced healthcare engagement, and reliance on digital information rather than professional consultation. The document identifies a clear unmet medical need for comprehensive vaccination programs in this age group and recommends increased access through awareness campaigns, artificial intelligence, and innovative delivery methods like pharmacy-based vaccination.
Key points
- IMD has a case fatality rate of 8-15% and causes disabling sequelae in 20-40% of survivors
- Adolescents and young adults aged 15-24 represent a second epidemiologic peak for IMD and are main carriers of Neisseria meningitidis
- Vaccination policies for major serogroups (A, B, C, W, Y) are differing and often suboptimal across the studied geographies
- Existing IMD vaccines in adolescents are underutilized compared with vaccines for diseases with higher awareness and reimbursement
- Recommended strategies to improve prevention include awareness campaigns, artificial intelligence use, and in-pharmacy vaccination delivery
Limitations
This is a literature review focused on disease burden and vaccination gaps rather than an evaluation of specific interventions, so it cannot provide evidence on the effectiveness of proposed strategies like awareness campaigns or pharmacy-based vaccination. The document does not provide detailed epidemiological data, vaccination coverage rates, or comparative cost-effectiveness analysis for different approaches.
Abstract
Invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) is uncommon but serious; the case fatality rate is 8-15% and up to 20-40% of survivors experience disabling sequelae, with a substantial socioeconomic impact. Although incidence is highest in infants and young children (aged ≤4 y), a second epidemiologic peak occurs in adolescents and young adults (aged 15-24 y), who are the main carriers of Neisseria meningitidis. We reviewed the burden of IMD in adolescents and young adults in Europe and select geographies including Australia, New Zealand, and Brazil. Globally, there are differing, often suboptimal, vaccination policies with variable vaccination coverage for IMD prevention caused by the major serogroups (A, B, C, W, and Y). The increased risk in adolescents and young adults may relate to their social behaviors. They are difficult to reach due to a reduced incidence of chronic diseases, age-related perceptions of not being at risk, in addition to reliance on technology-based rapid health information searches rather than healthcare professional - based consultations. Absence of standard and comprehensive vaccination programs for the prevention of IMD in adolescents and young adults presents a clear unmet medical need. Existing vaccines against IMD in adolescents are underutilized compared with vaccines against diseases with better awareness and reimbursement schemes. Increasing access to vaccines against IMD, together with innovative strategies such as awareness campaigns and the use of artificial intelligence, as well as practical strategies, such as in-pharmacy vaccination, will be needed to increase the prevention of IMD in adolescents and young adults.