The unexpected and unp- dictable occurrence of the disease in previously healthy children and young adults, its rapid progression, and the frequent occurrence of purpura fulminans with the resulting gangrene of limbs and digits and the requirement for mutilating s- gery, have all heightened both public and medical interest in the disease.

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.

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