The FDA has approved a new meningococcal vaccine for use in infants as young as 6 weeks.

The vaccine, MenQuadfi, is already approved for individuals aged 2 years and older to protect against the four most common strains of meningococcal bacteria - A, C, W and Y.

"I think for convenience factor and accessibility ... it is nice to have options," said Patty Sabey, MD, PhD, a pediatrician with Stanford Medicine Children's Health.

The approval was based on data from 3 late-stage studies involving more than 6,000 participants aged 6 weeks to 19 months, which showed that MenQuadfi was as effective as Menveo when co-administered with other routine pediatric vaccines.

Dr. Sabey said that meningococcal vaccine is not a routine vaccine for infants in the U.S. even though young infants, especially under 1 year, are at higher risk of infection.

The CDC currently recommends all adolescents aged 11 to 12 years receive a meningococcal vaccine, followed by a booster dose at age 16 years. The agency also recommends that individuals aged 2 months and older who are at increased risk of the disease should receive the vaccine.

According to preliminary data from the CDC, 503 confirmed and probable cases of meningococcal disease were reported in 2024, the highest since 2013.