The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommends quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine, (MCV4) (Menactra, Sanofi Pasteur, Swiftwater, Pennsylvania) for all persons aged 11-18 years and for persons aged 2-55 years at increased risk for meningococcal disease. MCV4 is licensed as a single dose. Because of the high risk for meningococcal disease among certain groups and lim...

Lauded as one of the greatest developments of 20th-century medicine, the “wonder drug” penicillin reshaped the treatment of infectious diseases and altered patterns of mortality. As a result, the breakthrough that preceded penicillin—the development of the sulfonamides—is often overlooked.1–3 Using records from Sydenham Hospital, amunicipal communicable disease institution in Baltimore, Marylan...

1 Coordinator, Vaccines Assessment and Monitoring, Department of Vaccines & Biologicals, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland. Correspondence should be sent to this author (e-mail: [email protected]). 2 Immunization Advisor, World Health Organization, Kampala, Uganda. 3 Global Alert and Response, Department of Communicable Disease Surveillance and Response, World Health Organization...

OBJECTIVE To determine the level of knowledge of healthcare workers (HCWs) towards preventive measures for communicable diseases among pilgrims, and to highlight the difficulties faced by HCWs in implementing preventive measures at entry point. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted at King Abdulaziz International Airport Hajj Terminals in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during Hajj se...

Meningococcal disease is an uncommon infection associated with high case fatality rates, especially in some low resource countries. The burden of meningococcal the Asia Pacific region relatively although likely to be underreported. Carriage rates causative bacteria, Neisseria meningitidis are also lower than many other countries, those Asian ethnicity having a carriage prevalence ethnicities. T...

Endemic and epidemic meningococcal disease constitutes a major public-health problem in African countries of the 'meningitis belt' where incidence rates of the disease are many-fold higher (up to 25 cases per 100,000 population) than those in industrialized countries, and epidemics of meningococcal disease occur with rates as high as 1,000 cases per 100,000 people. Using the precedent establish...

The adolescent period heralds the pediatric patient's transition into adulthood. It is a time of dynamic development during which effective preventive care measures can promote safe behaviors and the development of lifelong health habits. One of the foundations of preventive adolescent health care is timely vaccination, and every visit can be viewed as an opportunity to update and complete an a...

INTRODUCTION Chemokines are a superfamily of small peptides involved in leukocyte chemotaxis and in the induction of cytokines in a wide range of infectious diseases. Little is known about their role in meningococcal sepsis in children and their relationship with disease severity and outcome. METHODS Monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1, macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP) 1alpha, growt...

the absence of cerebrospinal fluid (csf) pleocytosis in invasive meningococcal disease (imd) has been associated with an increased risk of death. it is unknown whether patients who lack a cellular response to central nervous system (cns) infection are at the same risk of adverse outcome as patiens without cns infection. to determine the frequency of presentation and outcome of three groups of c...

Neisseria meningitidis serogroups A, B, C, W, X, and Y cause outbreaks of meningococcal disease. Quadrivalent conjugate vaccines targeting the are available. A pentavalent vaccine that also includes serogroup X (NmCV-5) is under development.