Travel health update

Meningitis ACW135 & Y vaccine - now indicated from 2 years; Green book updates and egg allergies; New textbooks in travel medicine; Yellow fever maps updated 

MENINGITIS ACW135 & Y VACCINE

Menveo, one of the conjugate vaccines available for the protection against meningitis strains A, C, W135 and Y has had a change to its Summary of Product (SPC). Previously the vaccine was licensed for those 11 years of age and over but this has now been updated in a new SPC and Patient Information Leaflet (PIL) to use from 2 years and over. The other conjugate vaccine available is Nimenrix, which is licensed from the age of 12 months and above. The ‘Green Book’ chapter for Meningococcal was last updated on 12 March 2012 so still does not include any information about Nimenrix or this change to Menveo, but the SPCs and PILs can be found at www.medicines.org.uk/emc. Remember both Menveo and Nimenrix remain ‘Black Triangle’ drugs. These are relatively new drugs on the market and as such are intensively monitored to ensure that any new safety hazards are identified promptly. The Commission on Human Medicines (CHM) and the MHRA encourages the reporting of all suspected reactions to newer drugs and vaccines, which are denoted by the inverted Black Triangle symbol. For further information on the Yellow Card Scheme including Black Triangle go to www.mhra.gov.uk

GREEN BOOK UPDATES AND EGG ALLERGIES

Looking on http://immunisation.dh.gov.uk/category/the-green-book/ recently, I noticed there have been quite a few updates to some chapters of the Green Book. The easiest way to identify these is to review the ‘recent update patches’ which then clarify what is new about the updated chapter compared with the previous version. Such changes have been made to a number of chapters concerning egg allergy and Chapter 6 summarises it, in that individuals with a confirmed anaphylactic reaction to egg should not receive yellow fever vaccine. Individuals who have egg allergy may be at increased reaction to some influenza vaccines, therefore Chapter 19 on influenza now contains detailed information on administration of influenza vaccine in these patients. However, all children with egg allergy should receive the MMR vaccination as a routine procedure in primary care, as recent data suggest that anaphylactic reactions to MMR vaccine are not associated with hypersensitivity to egg antigens, but to other components of the vaccine (such as gelatin). Further reading of the new chapter 6 is highly recommended for greater detail.

NEW TEXTBOOKS IN TRAVEL MEDICINE

For those of you passionate about this field of practice, two well established large textbooks have just been thoroughly updated and republished. Principles and Practice of Travel Medicine 2nd edition, launched by Wiley in February 2013 is multi authored and its editor is a leading UK specialist, Dr Jane N Zuckerman. The other, Travel Medicine: Expert Consult with lead Editor Jay Keystone, is in its 3rd edition, and was republished by Saunders in December 2012. It covers the full range of travel-related illnesses, including cruise travel, bird flu, SARS, traveller’s diarrhoea, malaria, environmental problems, and much more. Both books are available in hard copy and Kindle editions.

YELLOW FEVER MAPS UPDATED

A new item appeared on the NaTHNaC website in January to inform users that the World Health Organization (WHO) had updated the geographical content of the Yellow Fever Vaccination Recommendations in the Africa map, as the Republic of South Sudan became an independent country in 2011. There have been changes to the Yellow Fever South America Recommendations in the Americas for Brazil. It is therefore necessary to download these new maps in colour to ensure you continue to give accurate and up to date information for yellow fever vaccination recommendations. For further information go to http://www.nathnac.org/pro/news/yfmaps_update_220113.htm