Meningococcal lipopoly(oligo)saccharide (LOS) is a major inflammatory mediator of fulminant meningococcal sepsis and meningitis. Highly purified wild-type meningococcal LOS and LOS from genetically defined mutants of Neisseria meningitidis that contained specific mutations in LOS biosynthesis pathways were used to confirm that meningococcal LOS activation of macrophages was CD14/Toll-like recep...

UNLABELLED Worldwide, the impact of meningococcal disease is substantial, and the potential for the introduction and spread of more virulent strains of N. meningitidis or strains with increased resistance to current antibiotics causes concern, making prevention essential. OBJECTIVES Review the indications for meningococcal disease vaccines, considering the epidemiological status in Brazil. ...

BACKGROUND Bacterial meningitis is associated with significant burden in Brazil. In 2010, both 10-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine and meningococcal capsular group C conjugate vaccine were introduced into the routine vaccination schedule. Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine was previously introduced in 1999. This study presents trends in demographics, microbiological characteristics and ...

BACKGROUND Endothelial damage is important in meningococcal disease. Cell adhesion molecules, including P selectin, E selectin, and intercellular cell adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1), are expressed by activated endothelium and then subsequently shed. METHODS ICAM-1, P selectin, and E selectin were measured on admission to hospital in children with meningococcal infections. RESULTS Concentratio...

1. Yadav S, Rammohan G. Meningococcal Meningitis. StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/b... (access: 2022.12.28). Google Scholar

ii Cover illustration: H&E staining picture of murine lungs infected with Mycobacterium.bovis BCG and fluorescence microscopic picture of macrophage fusion are integrated into a swedish dala horse. SUMMARY Macrophages are dynamic, plastic, and heterogeneous immune cells that play an important role in host immune defense against bacterial infection. Various bacterial pathogens, such as Neisseria...

Twenty-six patients who had recovered from group A meningococcal meningitis were vaccinated with group C meningococcal polysaccharide and tetanus toxoid. Their haemagglutinating antibody response was measured two weeks later and compared with those of 22 siblings and 39 controls. Patients and siblings had a significantly lower antibody response to the group C vaccine but not to tetanus toxoid. ...

Neisseria meningitidis is a common inhabitant of the nasopharyngeal tracts of healthy humans and is a significant cause of invasive infections such as meningitis in young children and adolescents worldwide (14). N. meningitidis has been classified into 13 serogroups on the basis of antigenic variation of the capsule, but only serogroups A, B, C, Y, and W-135 have commonly caused invasive infect...

A latex agglutination test employing serogroup-specific meningococcal polysaccharides as the antigen has been developed. The test has been used to measure serological responses in patients with meningococcal disease, in meningococcal carriers, and in volunteers who received meningococcal vaccines. It has been shown to be a sensitive and highly specific test for the detection of group-specific m...

In August 1987, an outbreak of group A meningococcal meningitis occurred during the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, resulting in an attack rate among American pilgrims of 640 per 100,000. To determine risk factors for carriage, throat cultures were taken from passengers arriving on four consecutive flights from Saudi Arabia to the United States. Pilgrims were more likely to be group A...