Dear Editor,
In his letter Cross protection induced by VA-MENGOC-BC® vaccine,1 Rolando Ocheoea-Azze remarks on my commentary about the apparent broad effect associated with OMV meningococcal vaccines, and provides additional important commentary on this topic. We both agree that it is likely that Group B OMV-containing meningococcal vaccines provide some protection against gonorrhoea, and that they induce heterologous protection against meningococcal disease.
Ochoae-Azze summarises additional data on the effectiveness of the Cuban VA-MENGOC-BC®. His summary highlights the potential wealth of data on the effect of this vaccine that is available in Latin America that supports the population impact associated with VA-MENGOC-BC®, beyond what has been observed in Cuba. Most of these reports are published in Spanish or Portuguese and unfortunately less accessible to the wider international audience. They have not been included in the recent review on the predicted vs observed effectiveness of these vaccines,2 nor played a role in contemporary discussions that predict limited heterotypic coverage in children.3
The experiences of Latin American countries such as Brazil, Colombia and Uruguay following the use of VA-MENGOC-BC could offer valuable epidemiological information about the population effects of this vaccine beyond what is already widely described. A peer reviewed systematic appraisal of this collective VA-MENGOC-BC® data would offer an additional timely and valuable contribution to the OMV vaccine conversation.
Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest
No potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.
References
- 1.Ochoa-Azze RF. Cross-protection induced by VA-MENGOC-BC(R) vaccine. Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics. 2018; In press. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
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