The Scottish Meningococcus and Pneumococcus Reference Laboratory provides a national service for the laboratory confirmation of meningococcal and pneumococcal disease in Scotland. The main tests used for the laboratory confirmation of meningococcal disease are culture, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), antibody testing, and more recently DNA sequencing. This paper describes the automation of...

CONTEXT The number of meningococcal outbreaks on college campuses have been increasing in the past few years. However, no published studies have documented the incidence of invasive meningococcal infection in college students or whether the incidence is higher than in the general population of the same age. OBJECTIVE To compare the incidence of invasive meningococcal infection in Maryland col...

At its October 2012 meeting, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted to recommend vaccination against meningococcal serogroups C and Y for children aged 6 weeks through 18 months at increased risk for meningococcal disease. Meningococcal groups C and Y and Haemophilus b tetanus toxoid conjugate vaccine (Hib-MenCY-TT [MenHibrix, GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals]) is licensed for...

Meningococcal Disease (IMD-B) Incidence and Outcomes in the Province of Quebec, Canada Bruce Tapiero, MD; Léna Coic, MD; Philippe Ovetchkine, MD MSc; Philippe De Wals, MD, PHD; Jean Baptiste Le Meur, MSc; Adela Barbaros, MD; Brigitte Lefebvre, PhD; Department of Pediatrics, Division of Infectious Diseases, CHU Sainte-Justine – University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada; Laval University, Queb...

Interrupting the transmission of infectious agents by introducing new vaccines into a population and creating herd immunity has proven to be a remarkable hidden genie for vaccine effectiveness. For example, oneto two-thirds of the effectiveness of the bacterial conjugate vaccines is linked to protection of the unvaccinated. However, the mechanisms of herd immunity are often not well understood,...

The Scottish Meningococcus and Pneumococcus Reference Laboratory provides a national service for the laboratory confirmation of meningococcal and pneumococcal disease in Scotland. The main tests used for the laboratory confirmation of meningococcal disease are culture, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), antibody testing, and more recently DNA sequencing. This paper describes the automation of...

reports on the treatment of meningitis with penicillin, with sulphonamides, and with sulphouamides and anti-meningococcal serum. The following are some recent publications on the subject. Dawson and Hobby (1944) reported on the Use of penicillin in 100 cases out of which only 2 were of meningococcal meningitis. In one case the response was satisfactory; in the other Penicillin was not given int...

Bacterial meningitis and meningococcal sepsis are rare conditions with high case fatality rates. Early recognition and prompt treatment saves lives. In 1999 the British Infection Society produced a consensus statement for the management of immunocompetent adults with meningitis and meningococcal sepsis. Since 1999 there have been many changes. We therefore set out to produce revised guidelines ...

Meningococcal ABCWY Vaccine Formulations in Adolescents and Young Adults Stan L. Block, MD; Leszek Szenborn, MD; Wendy Daly, MD; Teresa Jackowska, MD; Vas Narasimhan, MD; Diego D’Agostino, MSc; Linda Han, MD; Peter M Dull, MD; Igor Smolenov, MD; Kentucky Pediatric and Adult Research Center, Bardstown, KY; Clinic of Pediatrics and Infectious Diseases, Wroclaw, Poland; Bluegrass Clinical Research...

Meningococcal conjugate vaccines have several advantages over polysaccharide vaccines, including the ability to induce greater antibody persistence, avidity, immunologic memory, and herd immunity. Since 1999, meningococcal conjugate vaccine programs have been established across the globe. Many of these vaccination programs have resulted in significant decline in meningococcal disease in several...