Meningococcemia natural history, complications and prognosis

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-In-Chief: Cafer Zorkun, M.D., Ph.D. [2]

Overview

Before antibiotics the case fatality rate was over 50%, particularly dangerous in infants and elderly (84% and 72% respectively). Now it is often as low as 8% in major medical centers.

Current vaccines have polysaccharides of groups A, C, Y, and W-135. No vaccine available presently for group B disease since the polysaccharide is not sufficiently immunogenic to produce a reliable antibody response in humans to be effective.
Rates of meningococcus in US college students as a whole 0.7 per 100,000.
Rates of meningococcus in US persons aged 18-23 not in college 1.5 per 100,000.
Rates of freshmen living in dormitories 4.6 per 100,000.
Rates for college students in UK 13.2 per 100,000 versus those not in college of 5.5 per 100,000.