Meningococcal Meningitis in the U.S.

[eridani]

How stupid are we, anyway?

http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?id=1748

The Neisseria meningitidis bacterium, carried by clinically asymptomatic individuals, is a major cause of bacterial meningitis worldwide. Outbreaks occur in groups of individuals housed in close proximity, e.g. dormitories, etc. and spread rapidly through the respiratory route. Fatality rates of 10-14% are common as are significant neurologic sequellae for those who survive.

Each year in the US, according to the CDC, there are 1,700-3,400 cases of meningococcal meningitis which are now increasingly resistant to most common antibiotics. Vaccines have been developed and deployed in the U.S. for some, but not all strains of the organism. In the U.S. we lack the ability to immunize against Serogroup B which is the organism found in periodic outbreaks in the Pacific Northwest and other areas.

Notably, a vaccine with proven effectiveness against Serogroup B was developed in Cuba by the Finlay Institute in the 1980s. Since then, 55 million doses have been administered in Cuba and other countries and it is registered for use in 15 countries, but not the United States because of the U.S. embargo against Cuba. Early on, Cuban scientists at the Institute offered their vaccine to U.S. health authorities, which were facing outbreaks on a recurring basis, but received no positive response. (Today, even contacts between researchers from the two countries are stymied: under the Bush administration, CDC (Centers for Disease Control) staff are among the federal employees banned from travel to the island.)

[ThomCat]

1. Where politics is concerned, the US is collectively

a violent, greedy idiot. Stupid just doesn't even begin to describe the effects of our foreign policy.
x(

[no_hypocrisy]

2. My take on the real reason for the U.S. not using the vaccine.

(The vaccine) is registered for use in 15 countries, but not the United States because of the U.S. embargo against Cuba.

The real reason: the U.S. pharmaceutical companies can't steal, patent the vaccine, and THEN covert the exclusive rights to distribute it. If the U.S. corps can't control it, they don't want it.