The fact that vaccines protecting children against potentially life-threatening diseases were still not part of the national immunisation schedule was of grave concern, a hospital paediatrician has said.

This newspaper reported earlier this week that a one-year-old baby who died from meningitis B in the midst of a vaccine shortage was the first death from the disease since 2012.

Speaking to this newspaper on condition of anonymity, the paediatrician stressed that while fears of a meningitis B outbreak had been blown out of proportion, it was still true that medical professionals had long been worried that some important vaccines were not being given to children. The matter was hardly ever discussed within the Maltese health system, he added.

“In 2017, our children are still not routinely given the pneumococcal, meningitis C and meningitis B vaccines,” the paediatrician pointed out.

Such vaccines protect against the deadly strains of meningitis and meningococcal disease, he said, adding that certain vaccines, particularly for pneumococcus and meningitis C , had long been incorporated in the national vaccine schedules in a number of other developed countries. “To date, those parents who are not educated about the available vaccines in the private market, those who cannot afford them or patients who are part of a vulnerable group of children, including a number of looked-after children and child refugees, are left unprotected and hence at greater risk for preventable diseases that carry long-term morbidity and mortality,” he noted.

A spokeswoman for the Health Ministry said that under the national immunisation schedule, infants were given the “five-in-one vaccine” free of charge. This offered protection against diphtheria, tetanus, polio, whooping cough and haemophilus influenzae B (HiB) meningitis. It is given in four doses at two, three, four and 18 months of age.

“This in addition to the hepatitis B vaccine, the MMR vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella and the recently introduced human papillomavirus vaccine for girls born from the year 2000 onwards, which are also provided free of charge.

“The Health Advisory Committee is currently looking into the introduction of other vaccines for the national formulary,” the spokeswoman said.

Despite the baby’s recent death, the spokeswoman insisted there was no evidence of any increase in the incidence of meningococcal meningitis type B in Malta in recent years, stressing that “the number of confirmed cases remains very low”.

claire.caruana@timesofmalta.com