Meningitis in Luxembourg: stable situation, focus on vaccination

Luxembourg's Minister of Health and Social Protection Martine Deprez has presented a detailed report on the situation with meningococcal infections in the country over the past five years. According to official data, 18 cases of meningococcal meningitis have been reported between 2020 and 2024. The year-to-year distribution has remained stable, with one to five cases each year. No new cases have yet been registered for 2025.

Unlike France, where an "unprecedented surge" has been discussed in recent months, Luxembourg's figures remain low and the epidemiological picture does not indicate an increase in incidence.

Young people between 15 and 34 years of age remain the most vulnerable group, accounting for more than half of all cases (10 out of 18). The remaining cases were distributed among children under 14 years of age (3 cases), adults between 35 and 64 years of age (4 cases) and one person over 65 years of age. The average age of the cases was 30 years.

Remarkably, no deaths from meningococcal infection have been recorded, either between 2020 and 2023 or, according to preliminary data, in 2024.

With regard to vaccination, Luxembourg only started to actively expand coverage in 2024 by including vaccines against meningococcal group B and groups A, C, W, Y in the programme. In 2024, 27,668 doses of vaccine against group B and 17,627 doses against groups A, C, W and Y have been delivered. At the beginning of 2025, more than 6,000 additional doses have already been delivered.

Prior to this, the focus was on the meningococcal C vaccine, which has been widely used since 2020. More than 14,000 doses were delivered in 2023 alone.

Vaccination coverage in children remains high: according to the 2023 survey, 96.8 per cent of children aged 25 to 30 months were vaccinated against meningococcal C, which provides reliable protection both to the children themselves and indirectly to others through collective immunity.