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Meningococcal disease: the advances and challenges of meningococcal disease prevention

Ram Yogev1, Tina Tan

  • 1Children's Memorial Hospital, Special Infectious Diseases, Chicago, IL, USA. ryogev@childrensmemorial.org

Human Vaccines
|August 12, 2011
PubMed

Insights

Meningococcal vaccines are crucial for preventing severe disease. While some vaccines protect against serogroups A, C, W-135, and Y, challenges remain in protecting infants and against serogroup B, with long-lasting protection still unavailable.

Area of Science:

  • Immunology
  • Microbiology
  • Vaccinology

Background:

  • Meningococcal disease, caused by Neisseria meningitidis, presents with rapid onset and high mortality.
  • Five serogroups (A, B, C, W-135, Y) cause the majority of meningococcal disease cases globally.
  • Infants in developed countries face the highest risk, with a secondary peak in adolescents.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the current landscape of meningococcal vaccines.
  • To identify existing challenges in meningococcal disease prevention through vaccination.
  • To highlight areas for future vaccine development.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing literature on meningococcal vaccines.
  • Analysis of vaccine efficacy and impact on disease and carriage.
  • Identification of gaps in current vaccine technology.

Main Results:

  • Polysaccharide vaccines are less effective in young children but reduce carriage in high-risk groups.
  • Protein conjugate vaccines (A, C, W-135, Y) broaden protection but their effect on carriage is largely unknown, except for MenC conjugate.
  • Outer membrane vesicle vaccines are used for serogroup B in epidemics, but long-lasting protection is lacking.

Conclusions:

  • Significant progress has been made in preventing meningococcal disease caused by serogroups A, C, W-135, and Y.
  • Developing effective vaccines for infants and against serogroup B remains a critical challenge.
  • Further research is needed for vaccines offering long-lasting protection and impacting transmission.

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