TUESDAY, May 6 (HealthDay News) -- Compared to the licensed quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine Menactra, the novel MenACWY-CRM vaccine has similar tolerability and reactogenicity, but its immunogenicity is higher at one month post-vaccination, according to research presented this week at the Pediatric Academic Societies and Asian Society for Pediatric Research Joint Meeting in Honolulu.
Lisa Jackson, M.D., of the Group Health Center for Health Studies in Seattle, and colleagues conducted a phase III trial of 2,170 adolescents (aged 11 to 18) who received one dose of either MenACWY-CRM or Menactra.
At one month post-vaccination, the researchers found that more MenACWY-CRM than Menactra recipients achieved an hSBA titer of at least 1:8 for serogroups A (75 percent versus 67 percent), W-135 (96 percent versus 88 percent) and Y (88 percent versus 69 percent), but that the results were the same for serogroup C (84 percent). They also found that geometric mean titers were higher in MenACWY-CRM recipients than in Menactra recipients in all four serogroups (29 versus 18 for A, 59 versus 47 for C, 87 versus 44 for W-135, and 51 versus 18 for Y).
"Meningococcal disease causes significant morbidity and mortality, with highest incidence in infants and adolescents," the authors write. "Quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine is recommended for routine immunization of adolescents and high-risk groups."
The study was funded by Novartis Vaccines.
Abstract #5628.8
