Despite considerable advances in the understanding of the pathogenesis of meningococcal disease, this infection remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality globally. The role of the complement system in innate immune defenses against invasive meningococcal disease is well established. Individuals deficient in components of the alternative and terminal complement pathways are highly predisp...

Neisseria meningitidis, a gram-negative diplococcal bacterium, is a common asymptomatic nasopharyngeal colonizer that may infrequently lead to invasive disease in the form of meningitis or bacteremia. Six serogroups (A, B, C, W, X and Y) are responsible for the majority of invasive infections. Increased risk of disease occurs in specific population groups including infants, adolescents, those w...

meningococcal disease remains a significant global public health and is unique among causes of bacterial meningitis and sepsis where it not only causes sporadic disease but also outbreaks. meningococcal disease has a rapid onset with high mortality. the understanding of immunopathogenesis is crucial for development of novel therapeutic strategies and vaccines designed against meningococcal dise...

C with other infections, such as yellow fever or malaria, awareness of the potential for travelers to contract meningococcal disease is low. Global disease incidence rates, however, may be as high as 1,000/100,000 population in the ‘‘meningitis belt’’ of sub-Saharan Africa and are generally between 100 and 800/100,000 population during epidemics in Africa.1,2 In the United States, the annual in...

Serogroup B Neisseria meningitidis is a frequent cause of invasive meningococcal disease, yet there are no effective vaccines suitable for routine immunisation. Limited efficacy has been shown with meningococcal outer membrane vacccines in children 4 years and older. Here we review the status of current research and consider new approaches to development of meningococcal serogroup B vaccines.

A century of traditional vaccinology lost the fight against meningococcus serogroup B (MenB). However, thanks to an innovative genome-based approach, the first broadly effective MenB vaccine, Bexsero® (GSK Vaccines), was developed and has been licensed for use in various age groups by the European Commission and other regulatory authorities. Genes encoding for the main meningococcus B antigens ...

BACKGROUND A risk score for invasive mold disease (IMD) in patients with hematological malignancies could facilitate patient screening and improve the targeted use of antifungal prophylaxis. METHODS We retrospectively analyzed 1,709 hospital admissions of 840 patients with hematological malignancies (2005-2008) to collect data on 17 epidemiological and treatment-related risk factors for IMD. ...

BACKGROUND Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C has emerged as a cause of epidemic disease in Hefei. The establishment of serogroup C as the predominant cause of endemic disease has not been described. METHODS We conducted national laboratory-based surveillance for invasive meningococcal disease during 2000-2010. Isolates were characterized by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and multilocus seq...