Updated recommendations for use of meningococcal conjugate vaccines --- Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), 2010.

On October 27, 2010, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) approved updated recommendations for the use of quadrivalent (serogroups A, C, Y, and W-135) meningococcal conjugate vaccines (Menveo, Novartis; and Menactra, Sanofi Pasteur) in adolescents and persons at high risk for meningococcal disease. These recommendations supplement the previous ACIP recommendations for meningococcal vaccination . The Meningococcal Vaccines Work Group of ACIP reviewed available data on immunogenicity in high-risk groups, bactericidal antibody persistence after immunization, current epidemiology, vaccine effectiveness (VE), and cost-effectiveness of different strategies for vaccination of adolescents. The Work Group then presented policy options for consideration by the full ACIP. This report summarizes two new recommendations approved by ACIP: 1) routine vaccination of adolescents, preferably at age 11 or 12 years, with a booster dose at age 16 years and 2) a 2-dose primary series administered 2 months apart for persons aged 2 through 54 years with persistent complement component deficiency (e.g., C5-C9, properidin, factor H, or factor D) and functional or anatomic asplenia, and for adolescents with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. CDC guidance for vaccine providers regarding these updated recommendations also is included.