New therapies and vaccines for bacterial meningitis

Abstract

Acute bacterial meningitis remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. There have recently been major advances in the prevention of the major causes of bacterial meningitis following improvements in vaccinology. The success of immunisation against Haemophilus influenzae type b infection is being mirrored with serogroup C conjugated meningococcal vaccine and pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. However, there remain major challenges, notably, serogroup B meningococcal infection and shifts in epidemiology caused by vaccine introduction. In addition, much of the world’s population is unvaccinated. Therefore, improvements in management of acute bacterial meningitis are vital. In this review we attempt to summarise important advances in both prevention and treatment of acute bacterial meningitis.

• acute bacterial meningitis
• antibacterial resistance
• anti-inflammatory therapy
• conjugate vaccines
• hypothermia