Vaccination against meningitis for infants under one year old was until now only compulsory for meningococcal C forms and recommended against B. The health authorities decided on Friday to make protection compulsory against all forms of meningitis. strains A, B, C, W and Y from next year, according to the new vaccination schedule made public on Friday.

The objective is to counter the strong rebound in bacterial meningitis caused by meningococci, generally much more serious than viral meningitis, and the rise of meningococcal families Y and W, in a context of post-Covid resurgence.

A single vaccine, called tetravalent, will target strains A, C, W and Y. Given separately in three successive doses (3, 5 and 12 months), another will target strain B. The vaccination will obviously be largely reimbursed by health insurance, as recommended by the High Authority of Health.