Concern is growing that Aotearoa could be facing a new public health crisis if the rates for meningococcal disease vaccinations do not increase rapidly.
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While there has been a drop in the rate of the disease during the pandemic, because people have been staying home, there has also been a drop in the number of people getting vaccinated.
Now with borders reopening, and school and university students back in classrooms and halls, there's a real concern.
Meningitis Foundation co-founding director Andrea Brady told Afternoons meningitis was a group of diseases.
"The most common is meningococcal meningitis and that is a disease that affects the meninges of the brain ... it's a swelling of the brain that can result in brain damage, and that can be anything from hearing loss to significant impact on cognitive functions.
"But it also leads to a range of different side effects or consequences such as amputation, it could be sight disturbances, hearing loss, amputation, major organ dysfunction as well. So it's a really significant and complex disease."
She said meningococcal was an airborne disease that could be spread by people coughing or sneezing, kissing, or sharing straws of drink bottles.
She said there were different strains of meningococcal disease.
"The most common is meningococcal B and there's a vaccine that is available in New Zealand for that, but it's not funded."
She said there was one vaccine for a combined four strains of meningococcal, but also at a cost.
"But there's a very small group of people that have access free of charge to that particular vaccine ... that is people that are going into their first year of halls of residence, a boarding school, military barracks or prison."
She said anyone who lived in a crowded environment was susceptible to infection. "The best form of protection is through vaccination."
She said both vaccines were safe for babies as well as seniors.
"The most at-risk groups are children that are zero to five years of age, the next highest risk population are our young adults and our teenagers, the 13 to 25-year-olds.
"We are working hard to ensure that all New Zealanders know the vaccines are available and also to influence government to say, 'make them available to everyone free of charge, so that there is no discrimination as to who can and can't get the vaccine."
She said the vaccine cost was a "big barrier".
"They are about $150 per dose, so when you've got a couple of children, each of them going in for a vaccine and a booster, you're looking at thousands of dollars that need to be put aside for those vaccinations."
