ABSTRACT Introduction: The 2015 Global Meningococcal Initiative (GMI) meeting discussed
the global importance of meningococcal disease (MD) and its continually changing …

As reviewed in this paper, meningococcal disease epidemiology varies substantially by
geographic area and time. The disease can occur as sporadic cases, outbreaks, and large …

The nasopharynx is the ecological niche for many commensal bacteria and for potential
respiratory or invasive pathogens like Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae …

The clinical spectrum of invasive meningococcal disease is diverse with meningitis and/or
septicaemia being the commonest modes of presentation. The severity of manifestations of …

Meningococcal disease occurs worldwide with incidence rates varying from 1 to 1000 cases
per 100,000. The causative organism, Neisseria meningitidis, is an obligate commensal of …

Background Infection with Streptococcus pneumoniae is a major cause of childhood
morbidity and mortality worldwide, especially in low income countries where pneumococcal …

Effective vaccines provide direct protection to immunized individuals, but may also provide
benefits to unvaccinated individuals by reducing transmission and thereby lowering the risk …

Background Group A meningococci are the source of major epidemics of meningitis in
Africa. An affordable, highly immunogenic meningococcal A conjugate vaccine is needed …

Epidemic meningitis in Africa remains an important and unresolved public health problem.
Bacteriologic and epidemiologic data collected over the past 30 years have consistently …

Neisseria meningitidis is responsible for the seasonal burden and recurrent epidemics of
meningitis in an area of sub-Saharan Africa known as the meningitis belt. Historically, the …