Protecting Yourself from Meningitis: The Importance of Vaccination and Prevention Measures in the Hot Season

Meningitis is a severe central nervous system infection that can be caused by several bacterial groups, including pneumococcus, meningococcus, and Hib. While meningitis appears sporadically throughout the year, it tends to increase during the hot season due to favorable conditions for pathogens to multiply and develop. Additionally, extreme weather can reduce resistance, making people more susceptible to disease.

According to Dr. Tran Huynh Tan, Medical Manager of VNVC Vaccination System, vaccines are an effective way to prevent meningitis with over 90% effectiveness. There are vaccines available for children and adults starting from two months old that protect against pneumococcus, meningococcus, and Hib bacteria. Pneumococcal meningitis has a high mortality rate and can cause severe sequelae like deafness, blindness, paralysis, epilepsy, mental retardation, poor memory, and persistent headaches. In Vietnam, pneumococcus is the leading cause of meningitis.

Vaccination is crucial in preventing pneumococcal meningitis and its complications as it helps reduce hospitalization rates, shorten treatment time and lower medical costs compared to non-vaccinated groups. It also reduces the percentage of healthy people carrying the infection and limits the spread of pneumococcal infection in the community. The group B vaccine is a new generation vaccine that protects up to 95%, and early vaccination is recommended for children as young as two months old.

Meningococcus often occurs suddenly with symptoms like fever, severe headache