Shortage of meningitis vaccine in Michigan

A nationwide shortage of meningitis vaccine is causing concern among health care professionals across Metro Detroit with the start of the new school year just weeks away.
Physicians need the vaccine to immunize those at highest risk -- students entering high school and freshmen entering college.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the disease is rare, but can be deadly. Consequently, the vaccine is in demand.
That is why Alex Bartlett's mom made sure he received his vaccine last week. He will be entering Western Michigan University as a freshman in the fall.
"I had a best friend in elementary school that got meningitis when she got a little older," said Bartlett, 18, of Novi.
"She used to be very active in sports --better than the boys -- but when I went to see her in the hospital, she was on a respirator and looked so weak. So I knew what the disease could do. That's why I'm even telling my friends to get the vaccine."
The manufacturer of the vaccine, Sanofi Pasteur, of Swiftwater, Pa., cannot keep up with demand.
"One reason for the shortage is that we can only make so much at a time, and everybody wants it in August before kids go back to school," said Donna Cary, a spokeswoman for Sanofi Pasteur. "And the new vaccine, Menactra, was just approved in 2005, but we're actually shipping more than we did last year."
Doctors say the new vaccine is better, because it lasts eight years or more. The older vaccine, Menomune, while still available, lasts between three to five years.
However, Cary said, the manufacturer is limiting distribution of the new vaccine because of the shortage.
"They can't order more than 20 doses every 30 days," said Cary.
The disease, bacterial meningitis, is an inflammation of the lining around the brain and spinal cord, and although rare, can lead to the amputation of extremities, or, in the worst cases, death. College freshmen living in dorms are six times more likely to contract the disease.
But physicians caution against panic. Metro Detroit is experiencing a spotty shortage. Some providers -- county health departments and the Visiting Nurse Association -- have sufficient supplies. And local hospitals have enough for their patients who may need it before surgeries, including the removal of a spleen.
But the Michigan Department of Community Health says it could use more.
Some private physicians don't have any vaccine.
Dr. Sander Lipman, a pediatrician at the Center for Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine in Troy, wishes he could get even a single dose.
"I don't have any vaccine, and we've got long waiting lists," said Lipman. "We were told we would get it in batches of 20, but we're a big practice and 20 won't last very long.
"I've been doing this for 27 years, and this is the first time I'm sending students off to college without being immunized. I'm very frustrated."
To address the shortage, the CDC is asking doctors not to immunize 11 and 12-year-olds.
"By deferring the vaccine from 11 and 12 year olds, we will save the supply for those who are older and at higher risk," said Curtis Allen, spokesman for the CDC.