Meningococcal Disease News and Research

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If you’ve got hep C, spitting can be a felony

Last week, an Ohio man who has the hepatitis C virus was sentenced to 18 months in prison for spitting at Cleveland police and medics.

19 Jun 2018

Researchers develop new approach to assess effectiveness of Men B vaccine

Researchers at the University of Leicester and Meningococcal Reference Unit have developed a new approach to assess the effectiveness of the Men B vaccine, Bexsero, against different strains that cause meningococcal meningitis and septicaemia.

18 Jun 2018

Abdominal pain should be seen as a warning sign for invasive meningococcal disease

Patients with meningococcal infection generally develop symptoms including a high temperature, vomiting and a stiff neck... but they might also just have a bad stomach ache. This can be so severe that they are sometimes wrongly operated for appendicitis.

26 Apr 2018

New test for meningitis could speed up diagnosis and save lives

Clinicians at an A&E department in Northern Ireland are to start using a new test that rapidly detects meningitis, potentially speeding up diagnosis and saving lives.

30 Aug 2017

Vaccine campaign targeting freshers could hold key to reducing spread of meningitis

A campaign targeted at students arriving at university for the first time could hold the key to reducing the spread of meningitis and septicaemia, say researchers at the universities of Nottingham and Leicester.

12 Jan 2017

Scientists uncover how microbes invade the brain in bacterial meningitis

Simon Fraser University researcher Lisa Craig is part of an international team that has uncovered new details about a microbe that invades the brain, sometimes with fatal results.

6 Oct 2016

CHORI scientists reveal improved protective antibody responses to new meningococcal vaccine

A study conducted by UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute scientists shows greatly improved protective antibody responses to a new mutant vaccine antigen for prevention of disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis - also known as meningococcus - that has the potential to improve the current vaccines for meningitis.

9 Sep 2016

GSK launches educational campaign to help raise awareness of meningitis

GSK today launched an educational campaign to help raise awareness of meningitis, a rare but potentially deadly disease.

8 Aug 2016

Personal anxiety, mass media coverage interact to determine what people remember about specific disease

The health facts presented by mass media in the midst of a disease outbreak are likely to influence what we remember about the disease -- new research suggests that the same mass media coverage may also influence the facts that we forget.

2 Nov 2015

Scientists identify key groups of bacteria responsible for majority of meningococcal cases in England, Wales

Scientists at Oxford University have identified the key groups of bacteria responsible for the majority of meningococcal disease cases in England and Wales over the past 20 years.

29 Oct 2015

CDC publishes reports on infectious and noninfectious diseases

Beginning with the Oct. 23, 2015, Supplements to Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), CDC will publish the summaries of all notifiable conditions – infectious and noninfectious – at the same time.

23 Oct 2015

GSK welcomes U.S. CDC's vote on use of meningococcal group B vaccines

GlaxoSmithKline announced today that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted for a Category B recommendation for meningococcal group B vaccination, including BEXSERO (Meningococcal Group B Vaccine), in individuals aged 16 to 23 (with a preferred age of 16-18).

25 Jun 2015

Study suggests new approach to help prevent meningococcal outbreaks

Nasal drops of harmless bacteria can inhibit a related bug that sometimes causes meningococcal disease, according to new findings published online in Clinical Infectious Diseases. The study--conducted among college students, a group at higher risk for this often serious illness--suggests a new approach that could help suppress outbreaks of the disease, if supported by future research.

30 Mar 2015

FDA approves use of Menactra for booster vaccination against meningococcal disease

Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved use of Menactra® [Meningococcal (Groups A, C, Y and W-135) Polysaccharide Diphtheria Toxoid Conjugate Vaccine] for booster vaccination against meningococcal disease in persons 15 years through 55 years of age.

9 Sep 2014

AHF welcomes passage of new HIV transmission bill

Marking the first change in state health code regarding HIV transmission in nearly a decade, Iowa Governor Terry E. Branstad signed a landmark bill on May 30 that will curb rampant convictions of people living with HIV for transmitting the virus by redefining the law to ensure only those who intend to spread HIV or behave with "reckless disregard" are penalized.

11 Jun 2014

Scientist wins 2014 Maurice Hilleman/Merck Award for developing vaccine against meningococcal disease

Dan Granoff, MD, of UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland's research arm CHORI, has been named the 2014 Maurice Hilleman/Merck Award Laureate by the American Society for Microbiology (ASM).

15 May 2014

Pfizer reports positive results from rLP2086 Phase 2 study for invasive meningococcal disease

Pfizer Inc. announced today the results from two Phase 2 studies of bivalent rLP2086, Pfizer's recombinant vaccine candidate, currently under development for the prevention of invasive meningococcal disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B in 10 to 25 year olds.

12 May 2014

Roundup: Battles fought over Lyme disease, autism and abortion

In Texas, abortion providers file suit to block a state rule that could shut down many of the state's remaining clinics, while lawmakers in Vermont and N.Y. seek to immunize doctors who prescribe long-term antibiotics for patients with lasting symptoms attributed to Lyme disease.

3 Apr 2014

First Edition: April 3, 2014

Today's headlines include reports on how Paul Ryan's budget is playing on Capitol Hill as well as news that the Obama administration is releasing a trove of data on physician services and payments.