We read with interest the Article by Thomas Waterfield and colleagues on performance of clinical guidelines for invasive meningococcal disease among febrile children presenting a non-blanching rash.1Waterfield T Maney JA Fairley D et al.Validating practice management rashes in UK (PiC): prospective, multicentre cohort study.Lancet Infect Dis. 2020; (published online Nov 10.)https://doi.org/10.1...

AIM We describe the epidemiology of a community outbreak of Meningococcal C disease in Northland in 2011, and national trends in serogroup C disease in New Zealand. METHODS Notification data from EpiSurv for all meningococcal C cases were analysed for 2011 for Northland and for the period 2001-2011 nationally. RESULTS In 2011, the rate of group C meningococcal disease for the population in ...

Meningococcal invasive isolates of the ST-11 clonal complex are most frequently associated with disease and rarely found in carriers. Unlike carriage isolates, invasive isolates induce apoptosis in epithelial cells through the TNF-α signaling pathway. While invasive and non-invasive isolates are both able to trigger the TLR4/MyD88 pathway in lipooligosaccharide (LOS)-dependant manner, we show t...

We diagnosed invasive meningococcal disease by using immunohistochemical staining of embalmed tissue and PCR of vitreous humor from 2 men in New York City. Because vitreous humor is less subject than other body fluids to putrefaction, it is a good material for postmortem analysis.

Invasive disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis is associated with high mortality and high disability rates and mainly affects children under one year of age. Vaccination is the best way to prevent meningococcal disease, especially in infants and toddlers. The introduction of massive meningococcal serogroup C vaccination has drastically reduced the incidence of disease caused by this serogrou...

Neisseria meningitidis is a frequent commensal resident of the oropharyngeal mucosa, carried by at least 10% of the human population in industrialized countries. However, N. meningitidis might penetrate the mucosal membranes and cause life-threatening septicemia and meningitis, commonly with a short time from onset to death. Despite appropriate treatment, the case-fatality rate for invasivemeni...

The human bacterial pathogen Neisseria meningitidis remains a serious worldwide health threat, but progress is being made toward the control of meningococcal infections. This review summarizes current knowledge of the global epidemiology and the pathophysiology of meningococcal disease, as well as recent advances in prevention by new vaccines. Meningococcal disease patterns and incidence can va...