Neisseria meningitidis may cause invasive disease (meningitis and sepsis), leading to considerable disease burden and mortality. However, effective vaccines are available against most pathogenic serogroups. Large-scale vaccination campaigns with the MCC vaccine conducted in UK and with MenAfriVac in the Sahel have clearly demonstrated the direct and indirect effect of immunization programmes on disease and carriage. Moreover, the introduction of novel subcapsular vaccines against serogroup B, which may cross-protect against other serogroups, is likely to have a further effect on trends. Accurate data collection is key to elaborate vaccination strategies able to reduce meningococcal disease burden through direct protection and herd immunity.
Keywords: Neisseria meningitidis; epidemiology; invasive meningococcal disease; meningococcus; vaccination.