Infection and Immunity Department, University of Sheffield Medical School, Beech Hill Road, Sheffield, S10 2RX, UK.
Expert Rev Vaccines. 2011 Mar;10(3):335-43. doi: 10.1586/erv.11.3.
Neisseria meningitidis causes significant disease in the form of severe sepsis syndrome or meningococcal meningitis. Owing to the susceptibility of the immune system in early life, the risk of disease after infection is significantly higher in infants. Thus far, vaccines targeted against meningococcal serogroups have struggled to provide lasting protection in young children. Even conjugate vaccines that are now routinely used in the immunization of infants require multiple dosing and the duration of protection has been shown to wane over time and require repeated booster doses. After briefly summarizing the current epidemiology according to age and serogroup, this article will consider the reasons for poor immunogenicity of vaccines in infants and will discuss the relative efficacy of the different vaccine types in this age group. It will then go on to consider strategies for optimizing the protection of infants against meningococcal disease.
脑膜炎奈瑟菌以严重败血症综合征或脑膜炎球菌性脑膜炎的形式引起重大疾病。由于生命早期免疫系统的易感性，感染后患病的风险在婴儿中显著更高。迄今为止，针对脑膜炎奈瑟菌血清群的疫苗在幼儿中难以提供持久的保护。即使是现在常规用于婴儿免疫接种的结合疫苗也需要多次给药，并且已经表明保护时间随着时间的推移而减弱，需要重复加强剂量。在简要总结按年龄和血清群划分的当前流行病学情况后，本文将考虑婴儿疫苗免疫原性差的原因，并讨论不同疫苗类型在该年龄组中的相对疗效。然后，将继续考虑优化针对婴儿脑膜炎奈瑟菌病的保护策略。
