HOW TO GET THE MENINGITIS B JAB ABROAD

AFTER the death two weeks ago of Faye Burdett, a two-year-old from Kent who caught Meningitis B and died 11 days later, many parents have been desperate to get their children vaccinated.

But stocks of the Meningitis B vaccine — which is given only to babies under the age of one on the NHS — are extremely low in the UK, making i t virtually impossible to have older children vaccinated, even privately.

However, an investigation by Good Health has revealed that the vaccine, called Bexsero, is available in many other European countries and the U.S.

It could be as simple as getting on a ferry: the Mail visited two pharmacies in Calais and found the vaccine was available, while the regional health authority in the Pas de Calais says ‘there have been no serious shortages reported’.

Meningitis B is the most common cause of bacterial meningitis, and kills around 10 per cent of those infected. Of the survivors, around 20 per cent will have life-changing disabilities. Mark Hunt, from Meningitis Now, says his charity would like to see the vaccine given to children up to the age of five.

‘In an ideal world, we would like the vaccine to be offered to children up to the age of 11. But we have to be pragmatic, bearing in mind the shortages, the expense and the fact that 58 per cent of Meningitis B cases are in the younger age group.’

With UK stocks low, there is no reason why British parents can’t travel to other countries to have their child vaccinated. The vaccines cost around £80 a dose, and parents will also have to pay for a doctor abroad to administer it.

On the NHS, babies under six months are given three doses over the first year of life (one at two months, the second dose at four months and a booster at 12 months). Those six months and older need just two doses at least two months apart (children under 11 months may also need a booster jab on top of this).

If you do travel to get the vaccine privately, it should be possible to buy the other doses at the same time, providing they are stored properly. You would then need to find a private clinic or doctor at home to administer the later jabs.

While countries such as France, Germany and Greece currently seem to have supplies of the vaccine, others such as Spain and the Republic of Ireland are, like the UK, experiencing shortages.

In Spain, for example, supplies ran out within days when, last year, parents were allowed to buy the vaccine from pharmacies with a prescription. Last November, after the death of a one-year-old baby from the disease in Galicia, there were reports of Spaniards travelling to Portugal to get the jab.

And in the Republic of Ireland, where it is only available privately, shortages mean that only children who have started a course of treatment can get the jab.

Following huge public support to make the Meningitis B vaccine available to all children under 11, MPs are to debate the issue.

But medical experts have warned that this would take precious NHS resources away from other areas, and there is no evidence that it is ‘cost-effective’ in older children (babies under a year old are 12 times more likely than older children to be infected).

Furthermore, figures from Public Health England show that cases of Meningitis B fell from 1,600 in 2001 to around 600 in 2012. And before the NHS vaccination programme was introduced last September, the figures had fallen even further, to around 400 cases.

Manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline says it hopes to increase stocks in the UK by the summer. The NHS programme is unaffected by the current shortages.