• Meningococcal

    Meningococcal (muh-nin-jeh-KOK-el) disease used to cause thousands of serious infections every year. Thanks to vaccines, there are fewer cases of meningococcal disease in the United States than ever before.

    There are 2 types of meningococcal vaccines:

    • The MenACWY vaccine for preteens, teens, and children and adults with certain health conditions.
    • The MenB vaccine for people age 10 years and older who have certain health conditions- or are in an area with an outbreak of serogroup B meningococcal disease

    Meningococcal disease is rare, but people do get it-and teens, young adults, and people with certain health conditions are at increased risk. Meningococcal disease can cause serious infections of the lining of the brain and spinal cord or the blood.

    Protection from these infections is especially important because they can quickly become very dangerous-in fact, they can be deadly in just a few hours.

    Getting vaccinated is the best way to prevent meningococcal disease.

    meningitis