What different vaccinations are there?
In meningococcal vaccinations, a distinction can be made between conjugated and unconjugated vaccinations. In general, the vaccination is directed against sugar molecules on the surface of the bacteria. These sugar molecules are also contained in the vaccination, so that the immune system can form antibodies against them and react directly in case of an infection with the bacterium.
Conjugated means that the sugar molecules are bound to specific proteins; unconjugated means that these are present in the vaccine without proteins. The advantage of the conjugated vaccine is that children can also be vaccinated in infancy. Such a vaccine is available for serogroup C; in some countries it is already available for serogroup B.
The unconjugated vaccine can be administered as a combination of serogroups A, C, W and Y, but children under one year of age after vaccination with this vaccine may not yet produce sufficient antibodies. These children need the conjugated vaccine first to receive a basic immunization. Only after the second year of life can the unconjugated vaccine be administered.
It is also possible after contact with the pathogen to take a measure to protect the body and thus escape the outbreak of the disease. After contact with the pathogen, it is also possible to take measures to protect the body and thus escape the outbreak of the disease. The generally recommended vaccination against meningococci of serogroup C should be given in the second year of the child’s life.
In order to protect the child as early as possible against dangerous courses of meningococcal infections, pediatricians recommend that the vaccination be administered at the beginning of the second year of life. Children at particular risk, e.g. immunodeficiency, may also be vaccinated in infancy. But also children and adolescents up to the age of 17 are recommended to be vaccinated against meningococcus.
Vaccinations against other types of meningococcus can usually also be carried out from the age of two. However, a detailed consultation with the treating physician should be conducted to clarify the individual benefit-risk ratio.The vaccination against meningococcus C recommended by STIKO requires only a single vaccination in the second year of life. Older children and adolescents are also only vaccinated once.
The vaccination against meningococcus B, which is not yet recommended in Germany, requires two to three vaccinations, depending on the age of the person to be vaccinated, until basic immunization is achieved. In addition, a booster vaccination is necessary for children under two years of age. The combined vaccination against meningococcus ACWY is usually only necessary once.
However, it is only approved from the second year of life. Therefore, children under one year of age with special risks, e.g. immune defects, should be vaccinated against meningococcus C as infants and receive the combined vaccine in the second year of life. Vaccination against meningococcus C does not normally require a booster.
It is administered once. Only children at particular risk who have been vaccinated before the age of one should receive a booster. Vaccinations against the other serogroups of the bacterium do not usually need to be refreshed either. Only in children under two years of age who have been vaccinated against meningococcus B, a booster vaccination is necessary.
