Public Health England.

Neisseria meningitidis is a major cause of bacterial meningitis and septicaemia worldwide and is associated with high case fatality rates and serious lifelong complications among survivors. Twelve serogroups are recognised, of which six (A, B, C, W, X and Y) are responsible for nearly all cases of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD). The incidence of IMD and responsible serogroups vary widely both geographically and over time. For the first time, effective vaccines against all these serogroups are available or nearing licensure. Over the past two decades, IMD incidence has been declining across most parts of the world through a combination of successful meningococcal immunisation programmes and secular trends. The introduction of meningococcal C conjugate vaccines in the early 20 0 0s was associated with rapid declines in meningococcal C disease, whilst implementation of a meningococcal A conjugate vaccine across the African meningitis belt led to near-elimination of meningococcal A disease. Consequently, other serogroups have become more important causes of IMD. In particular, the emergence of a hypervirulent meningococcal group W clone has led many countries to shift from monovalent meningococcal C to quadrivalent ACWY conjugate vaccines in their national immunisation programmes. Additionally, the recent licensure of two protein-based, broad-spectrum meningococcal B vaccines finally provides protection against the most common group responsible for childhood IMD across Europe and Australia. This review describes global IMD epidemiology across each continent and trends over time, the serogroups responsible for IMD, the impact of meningococcal immunisation programmes and future needs to eliminate this devastating disease.

, the United Kingdom introduced the multicomponent meningococcal group B vaccine (4CMenB, Bexsero) into its publicly funded national immunization program at a reduced two-dose priming schedule for infants, with a 12-month booster. METHODS Using data from enhanced national surveillance of invasive meningococcal disease in England, we evaluated the effect of vaccination on the incidence of meningococcal group B disease during the first 3 years of the program. The effect of vaccination was assessed by comparing the observed incidence of disease with the expected incidence based on the incidence during the 4-year prevaccination period in equivalent cohorts and with the use of disease trends in cohorts of children younger than 5 years of age who were not eligible to receive the vaccine. Vaccine effectiveness was estimated with the use of the indirect screening method. RESULTS 4CMenB uptake in England remained consistently high; data from the first 3 months of 2018 showed that 92.5% of children had completed the primary immunizations by their first birthday and 87.9% had received all three doses by 2 years. From September 2015 through August 2018, the incidence of meningococcal group B disease in England (average annual birth cohort, approximately 650,000 infants) was significantly lower in vaccine-eligible cohorts than the expected incidence (63 observed cases as compared with 253 expected cases; incidence rate ratio, 0.25; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.19 to 0.36), with a 75% reduction in age groups that were fully eligible for vaccination. The adjusted vaccine effectiveness against meningococcal group B disease was 52.7% (95% CI, −33.5 to 83.2) with a two-dose priming schedule for infants and 59.1% (95% CI, −31.1 to 87.2) with a two-dose priming schedule plus a booster at 1 year). Over the 3-year period, there were 169 cases of meningococcal group B disease in the vaccineeligible cohorts, and an estimated 277 cases (95% CI, 236 to 323) were prevented. CONCLUSIONS The 4CMenB program was associated with continued positive effect against meningococcal group B disease in children in England, and protection after three doses of the vaccine was sustained for at least 2 years.

Atypical clinical presentations associated with group W meningococcal disease (MenW) are well-described and include pneumonia, septic arthritis, endocarditis and epiglottitis/supraglottitis. Following anecdotal reports of teenagers presenting with predominantly gastrointestinal symptoms, we undertook a case review of MenW cases in 15 to 19 year-olds diagnosed in England between July 2015 and January 2016. Of the 15 cases, seven presented with a short history of nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea; five of these seven cases died within 24 hours of presentation to hospital.

Public Health England, GlaxoSmithKline.