One of Britain's most feared diseases – which kills or maims hundreds of children every year – could be virtually eliminated after the first-ever meningitis B vaccine was approved by European regulators.

In the most significant breakthrough against meningitis in three decades, the new vaccine, called Bexsero, received a "positive opinion" from the European Medicines Agency today, paving the way for it to be licensed in the next few weeks.

(READ the story from the Independent)