An evaluation of emerging vaccines for childhood meningococcal disease

Debajeet Choudhuri, Tanvir Huda, Evropi Theodoratou, Harish Nair, Lina Zgaga, Rachel Falconer, Ivana Luksic, Hope L Johnson, Jian Shayne F Zhang, Shams El Arifeen, Christopher B Nelson, Ray Borrow, Harry Campbell, Igor Rudan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract / Description of output

Meningococcal meningitis is a major cause of disease worldwide, with frequent epidemics particularly affecting an area of sub-Saharan Africa known as the "meningitis belt". Neisseria meningitidis group A (MenA) is responsible for major epidemics in Africa. Recently W-135 has emerged as an important pathogen. Currently, the strategy for control of such outbreaks is emergency use of meningococcal (MC) polysaccharide vaccines, but these have a limited ability to induce herd immunity and elicit an adequate immune response in infant and young children. In recent times initiatives have been taken to introduce meningococcal conjugate vaccine in these African countries. Currently there are two different types of MC conjugate vaccines at late stages of development covering serogroup A and W-135: a multivalent MC conjugate vaccine against serogroup A,C,Y and W-135; and a monovalent conjugate vaccine against serogroup A. We aimed to perform a structured assessment of these emerging meningococcal vaccines as a means of reducing global meningococcal disease burden among children under 5 years of age.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)S29
JournalBMC Public Health
Volume11 Suppl 3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2011

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'An evaluation of emerging vaccines for childhood meningococcal disease'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this