Babies could receive free meningitis vaccine
According to reports today the HSE are requesting that the government fund free vaccines for up to 70,000 children against the meningitis B strain next year.
As well as requesting the vaccine for meningitis B, the HSE have also requsted a free vaccine be given for the rotavirus, a virus which causes severe diarrhoea in children.
The vaccine, which has already been put in place in the UK, could prove critical in saving lives.
According to figures around 1,200 people contract meningitis B every year, left suffering with disabilities after contracting the virus, while around one in 10 people tragically die from the infection.
The HSE’s plans for the free vaccines were revealed in The Irish Independent as part of a €17.9m HSE funding plan.