Introduction: Kelli Smith, United States (4) Group B Strep (4)

26 June, 2026

Dear Kelli

I am a vice chair of the Japan Child Meningitis Organisation (JaCMO).
Our organisation is a member of the Confederation of Meningitis Organisations (COMO).

It breaks my heart to hear that you lost your daughter to a GBS infection.
While the widespread use of Hib and paediatric pneumococcal vaccines in Japan has led to the near-eradication or drastic reduction of those serious infections, severe GBS infections remain a major problem.

We would like to solve this issue together.

Kind regards,
Hajime

CHIFA profile: Hajime Takeuchi is a professor at the Bukkyo University in Japan. Professional interests: child health, child poverty, child wellbeing. takechanespid@gmail.com He is a CHIFA Country Representative for Japan and a member of the CHIFA Steering Group (child health and rights) http://www.hifa.org/support/members/hajime takechanespid AT gmail.com

Author: 
Hajime Takeuchi, Japan