On Nov. 7, 2024, researchers reported that Implementation of routine immunization of U.S. adolescents with the quadrivalent (four-strain) meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MenACWY) was associated with reduced burden of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD).

Using national incidence data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on cases of IMD caused by serogroups C, W, and Y of Neisseria meningitidis, a team led by researchers from Sanofi (maker of the MenACWY vaccine) conducted a modeling study to estimate the number of IMD cases and deaths among adolescents and young adults ages 11 to 23 that were prevented from the time the vaccine was recommended in 2005 through 2021. 

Absent vaccination, the cumulative incidence of IMD in those age-groups would have been at least 59% higher than reported over the same period with vaccination. When considering age groups separately, the incidence of IMD would have been 110% higher in the younger group and 47% higher in the older group. The study findings were published in JAMA Network Open.