Meningococcal Disease

Becka CM and Chacón-Cru

Abstract

Meningococcal disease is one of the great bacterial threats to human health. Even in the age of antibiotics andvaccines, it remains one of the primary causes of bacterial meningitis worldwide. The causative agent, Neisseria meningitidis, is a gram negative, fastidious diplococcic that commensally inhabits the human nasopharynx.Transmission occurs through close contact with aerosol and respiratory secretions of infected carriers. The disease occurs both sporadically and in epidemics. Endemic areas with high carriage rates have also been identified. The purpose of this review is to examine the current status of the disease and identify the obstacles that the scientific community will encounter in the face of technological advances, changing environment and disease evolution.