Another WA infant diagnosed with meningococcal

A baby is recovering in a West Australian hospital after being diagnosed with meningococcal serogroup W disease.

There have been 32 cases of the potentially deadly disease reported so far this year including 23 serogroup W, seven serogroup B and two serogroup Y infections.

Meningococcal disease in WA peaked at 86 cases in 2000 and dropped to 16 in 2013. There were 46 cases last year.

As a result of the increase in serogroup W and Y disease in WA over the past three years, a funded State-wide meningococcal ACWY vaccination program for adolescents aged 15 to 19 years started in 2017.

The State-funded meningococcal ACWY vaccine program was expanded to include children aged one to four-years-old in January this year.