meningococcal meningitis

…bacterium Neisseria meningitidis, which causes meningococcal meningitis in humans, who are the only natural hosts in which it causes disease. The bacteria are spherical, ranging in diameter from 0.6 to 1.0 μm (micrometre; 1 μm = 10⁻⁶ metre); they frequently occur in pairs, with adjacent sides flattened. They are strongly…

The term meningitis is often applied to meningococcal meningitis, which is caused by Neisseria meningitidis, known commonly as meningococcus. Meningococcal meningitis is worldwide in distribution. It is primarily a disease of youth and especially of children under age 10, though all ages may…

…of this kind are polio, meningococcal meningitis, and cholera.

The first vaccines for meningococcal meningitis were developed in the 1960s and ’70s. The vaccines protected against the bacterium Neisseria meningitidis, which enters the nasopharynx and the bloodstream and can ultimately infect the lining of the brain and spinal cord, causing severe illness and potentially death within 24 to…