Vol. 521 No. 1
174 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health and Children the steps he will take in a situation where, according to the Director of the National Disease Surveillance Centre, group C meningococcal disease is endemic throughout the whole Irish population with a rate of 3.7 per 100,000. [16434/00]
A new conjugate vaccine to protect against group C meningococcal disease, which represents about 40% of the disease in Ireland, is expected to become available later this year and planning is under way for its introduction into the primary childhood immunisation programme and for it to be given to older children and young people in a "catch-up" programme.
As part of the preparations for the introduction of the new vaccine the meningococcal reference laboratory at the Children's Hospital, Temple Street is undertaking a study to establish the sub-strains of group C meningococcal disease currently circulating in Ireland. This will enable an analysis to be carried out after the vaccine has been introduced to establish its effect on the sub-strains of the disease in circulation.
The working group on bacterial meningitis, which was established in 1996 under the chairmanship of my Department's deputy chief medical officer and which published reports in 1997 and 1999, includes among its members a range of medical experts who are closely involved in dealing with meningococcal disease in Ireland. The group has prepared and issued detailed advice on the surveillance, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of meningitis and it continues to monitor developments, including the outcome of research at national and international level, so as to ensure that its advice is in line with best practice.
The development of the National Disease Surveillance Centre, which was established in 1998, will enable a much improved level of surveillance of infectious disease in Ireland and the centre will assist in the continued development of strategies to control communicable diseases, including meningitis. The centre has already developed a meningococcal disease database which will enable the pattern of this disease to be analysed in detail.
