Strategies for the Prevention of Meningitis

Meningococcal serogroup Y emergence in Europe

“…The efficient prevention of meningococcal disease requires vaccination of a large proportion of the community. 23 The question of whether the apparent increase in serogroup Y disease will continue and requires expansion of vaccine coverage beyond serogroup C as a routine vaccination in Europe or whether vaccination against serogroup Y should be targeted to high risk groups only (e.g., for travelers, people with complement component deficiencies or asplenia), was discussed in a recent editorial. 24 A prerequisite for a broader use of quadrivalent conjugate is that the immune response to the serogroup C component of the quadrivalent vaccine is not inferior to the currently used monovalent serogroup C conjugates which are able to induce a herd immune effect.…”