RESUMEN
It is generally accepted that vaccinations are one of the most effective tool for control of infectious diseases.In recent years,the research on meningococcal group B vaccines has made progress extensively.A new meningococcal group B vaccine,developed by the reverse vaccinology technology,has been approved by the European Medicines Agency and the Food and Drag Administration.Although no related products has been approve till now in China,some meningococcal group B vaccines are also developing in domestic companies and research institutes.Therefore,to further understand these vaccines and facilitate the development of meningococcal group B vaccines,this paper reviews advance and challenge in research on meningococcal group B vaccines.
RESUMEN
It is generally accepted that vaccinations are one of the most effective tool for control of infectious diseases.In recent years,the research on meningococcal group B vaccines has made progress extensively.A new meningococcal group B vaccine,developed by the reverse vaccinology technology,has been approved by the European Medicines Agency and the Food and Drag Administration.Although no related products has been approve till now in China,some meningococcal group B vaccines are also developing in domestic companies and research institutes.Therefore,to further understand these vaccines and facilitate the development of meningococcal group B vaccines,this paper reviews advance and challenge in research on meningococcal group B vaccines.
RESUMEN
Invasive disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis is associated with high mortality and high disability rates and mainly affects children under one year of age. Vaccination is the best way to prevent meningococcal disease, especially in infants and toddlers. The introduction of massive meningococcal serogroup C vaccination has drastically reduced the incidence of disease caused by this serogroup, and serogroup B has now become the main causative agent in several industrialized countries. The first serogroup B vaccines, which were used for more than two decades, were based on outer membrane vesicles and proved to be protective only against specific epidemic strains in Cuba, Norway, Brazil and New Zealand. Moreover, these often elicited a scant immune response in young children. Innovative genomics-based reverse vaccinology subsequently enabled researchers to identify genes encoding for surface proteins that are able to elicit a strong immune response against several B strains. This important discovery led to the development and recent approval in Europe of the four-component meningococcal serogroup B (4CMenB) vaccine. Large clinical trials have shown high immunogenicity and tolerability and acceptable safety levels of 4CMenB in infants and toddlers. This vaccine is expected to cover a large number of circulating invasive strains and may also be efficacious against other serogroups. Young children are particularly vulnerable to the devastating consequences of meningococcal disease. Given the high performance of 4CMenB and its non-interference with routine vaccinations, this age-group will be the first to benefit from the introduction of this vaccine.