Cochlear Implant Meningitis Risk Decreased by Vaccination
December 19th, 2007 amy
Reports to the FDA of two children’s deaths due to meningitis from cochlear implants with positioners led to the recall of July 2002. The deaths of these children, ages 9 and 11, could have been prevented through proper meningitis vaccination. Neither child was fully vaccinated. The FDA is again reminding all implanted patients at risk for meningitis to get properly vaccinated.
A recently study by Johns Hopkins’ Dr. John Niparko shows that 29 percent of parents of implanted patients under the age of two weren’t certain whether or not their child had been fully vaccinated. 43 percent of parents whose implanted children were over age two were unsure about their children’s vaccination status. Only 12 percent of the patients studied had been correctly vaccinated, despite repeat warnings and reports aimed to educate parents of cochlear implant patients of the meningitis risks.












