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This week the FDA approved all adult life-threatening diseases to receive a booster shot to counteract the chronic and potentially deadly effects of the virus.
The agency issued a statement, in which it said the approval is a step toward providing important treatments for the almost 100,000 Americans with one of four common strains of meningitis or septicaemia that are caused by a serious virus called serogroup B MenB which is transmitted through fecal particles.
“This approval will ensure that all susceptible adults who develop meningitis or septicaemia due to this serogroup will receive treatment with drug-like serine prothrombin analogues (SPAAs) that are safe and effective, and will help minimize the duration of disease, which may reduce the significant morbidity and mortality that we typically see associated with a serogroup-B meningitis or septicaemia diagnosis and treatment,” said Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), in a statement.
The agency said SPAAs are supported by clinical trials and are given by injection, unlike a vaccine.
“I’m happy this medicine will be available for all, especially those who’ve been hit by a virus like meningitis or septicaemia,” Janet Woodcock, M.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a statement. “While it’s unfortunate that there have been false reports of the SPAAs causing other illnesses, we hope this approval will allow patients in need of an effective treatment to receive it.”
Recently the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 6,927 cases of meningitis were reported during the 2018-2019 year, and from January to October of this year, 84 people died of it.