Martin C. J. Maiden

Matthias Frosch

A comprehensive overview of recent advances, from current basic research and epidemiology, to novel therapeutic strategies and clinical management. Here, the leading scientists who have made major advances in the field provide up-to-date reviews and describe their current knowledge and concepts. As such, this is the first volume to summarize the implications of the meningococcus genome-sequencing project, emphasizing the novel strategies in vaccine development. Following a look at the history, the authors go on to treat the epidemiology of meningococcal disease, as well as the genetics, structure and function of virulence factors. Further chapters cover cross-talk between meningococci and host cells, genomics and immunobiology. The result is a standard handbook for all scientists working in the field. While aimed at advanced specialists in basic research, epidemiologists, public health workers, vaccine developers and clinicians, the book is equally appropriate as introductory reading for graduates embarking on their career in this field.

Infection Biology, Vaccination, Clinical Management

Handbook of Meningococcal Disease

Andrew J. Pollard

The development of a comprehensive vaccine against Neisseria meningitidis, the causative agent of meningococcal disease, has remained elusive because of bacterial diversity and immunologic evasion. In Meningococcal Vaccines: Methods and Protocols, Andrew Pollard and Martin Maiden have assembled an impressive collection of the latest molecular and cellular techniques for the development, evaluation, and implementation of vaccines to be used against this dreaded disease. The contributors-leading scientists, clinicians, and public health physicians-describe in detail the many approaches to vaccine design, as well as the assessment of immune response to vaccine candidates and novel vaccine formulations. They also present as a test case the recent implementation of a new meningococcal vaccine in the United Kingdom. A companion volume, Meningococcal Disease: Methods and Protocols, contains detailed methods for diagnostic microbiology, bacterial characterization, epidemiology, host-pathogen interactions, and clinical studies. Timely and comprehensive, Meningococcal Vaccines: Methods and Protocols provides the scientist, public health physician, epidemiologist, clinical microbiologist, and clinician with the essential tools to lay bare the secrets of the meningococcus and to develop, evaluate, and implement successful new meningococcal vaccines.

Methods and Protocols

Meningococcal Vaccines

Neisseria meningitidis is a major cause of childhood morbidity and mortality in industrialized nations and is responsible for epidemics of meningococcal meningitis and septic shock in Africa and Asia. In Meningococcal Disease: Methods and Protocols, Andrew Pollard and Martin Maiden bring together a panel of leading authorities to produce a comprehensive, interdisciplinary survey of recent advances and knowledge about this much-feared disease. The review and methods-based chapters collected here provide essential information for diagnosis in the clinical microbiology laboratory, isolate characterization, clinical management, and control of meningococcal disease. They also examine the immunopathological mechanisms occurring in the acutely ill, host-pathogen interactions, and the possible components of meningococcus responsible for virulence. A companion volume, Meningococcal Vaccines, provides detailed methods for the design and evaluation of meningococcal vaccines. Comprehensive and authoritative, Meningococcal Disease: Methods and Protocols integrates the basic science and the clinical and epidemiological aspects of this terrible infectious disease to promote the deeper understanding needed to identify novel targets for therapeutic interventions and vaccines.

Martin C. J. Maiden

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