(HealthDay) -- A vaccine against meningitis C that was introduced in Great Britain in 1999 has cut the number of cases among British youngsters by 80 percent, reports the Australian Broadcasting Corp..
The number of cases of the potentially deadly brain disease fell from 700 in 1999 to 142 last year among those most vulnerable -- people under age 20, the report says. Britain was the first country in the world to use the vaccine.
Chiron Corp. of Emory, Calif., one of the companies that makes the vaccine, says it expects to sell $100 million worth of the vaccine for the campaign to eradicate meningitis C in Britain.
This fact sheet provides background on the disease and the vaccine.
