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Britain to offer all infants meningitis B vaccine

Natasha Pace/Global News

LONDON – Britain says it will become the first country to offer all babies a vaccine for potentially fatal meningitis B after it reached a price deal with GlaxoSmithKline PLC.

Government health advisers recommended use of the Bexsero vaccine last year, and the government has spent months negotiating over the cost.

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The drug was owned by Novartis, which recently sold most of its vaccines business to GlaxoSmithKline.

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Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said Sunday he was “very proud that we will be the first country in the world to have a nationwide Men B vaccination program.”

Babies will receive the vaccine at two months, followed by two further doses.

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Meningitis is a bacterial infection of the lining surrounding the brain and spinal cord that most commonly affects children and teenagers.

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