University of Otago epidemiologist Associate Prof Amanda Kvalsvig and her colleagues yesterday published a brief describing how a nationwide programme could target the bacterial disease, which is vaccine-preventable, but has a high mortality rate if untreated.
"These illnesses are often severe, can be deadly, and include infections of the lining of the brain and spinal cord [meningitis] and bloodstream.
"Keeping up to date with recommended vaccines is the best protection against meningococcal disease."
Assoc Prof Kvalsvig said the brief asked the question "Are we ready to eliminate this disease" and said: "The answer is yes, we think we really are."
Two main changes had occurred in recent years which saw the experts reach this conclusion — vaccines and the Covid pandemic.
Assoc Prof Kvalsvig said Covid had resulted in tools, expertise and experience that could be applied to other infectious diseases.
Preventing meningococcal from coming into the country was hard — but understanding how it arrived and where it spreads would help.
"That’s where genome epidemiology is very useful and that’s [one] important lesson we have learnt in the pandemic."
Contact tracing was also key.
Another lesson learnt during the pandemic was that meningococcal disease spreads in a similar manner to Covid.
"It spreads most readily in closed, crowded conditions where air quality is poor and we know so much more now about how to stop the spread in those conditions.
"We’ve had a bit of a break because our Covid protections were protecting us . . . now that our Covid protections are coming away, our meningococcal disease protections are coming away, too."
