Since the first recognition of outbreaks of cerebrospinal or spotted fever at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries, the menace of the meningococcus has been high on the list of public health prio- ties.

Meningococcal Vaccines and Vaccine Developments.- Immune Response and Host-Pathogen Interactions.- Purification of Capsular Polysaccharide.- Protein-Polysaccharide Conjugation.- N-Propionylation.- Outer Membrane Protein Purification.- Outer Membrane Protein Vesicle Vaccines for Meningococcal Disease.- Methods for Manipulation of Transferrin-Binding Proteins.- Methods for the Preparation and Crystallization of Fab Fragments in Complex with Peptide Antigens Derived from N. meningitidis Outer Membrane Proteins.- Application of Optical Biosensor Techniques to the Characterization of PorA-Antibody Binding Kinetics.- Construction of porA Mutants.- Construction of LPS Mutants.- Recombinant Proteins in Vaccine Development.- Identification of Peptides that Mimic N. meningitidis LOS Epitopes Via the Use of Combinatorial Phage-Display Libraries.- Testing Meningococcal Vaccines for Mitogenicity and Superantigenicity.- Early Experiences with Nasal Vaccines against Meningococcal Disease.- Animal Models for Meningococcal Disease.- Determination of Antibody Responses to Meningococcal Antigens by ELISA.- Immunoblot Analysis of Sera from Patients and Vaccinees.- Serogroup B and C Serum Bactericidal Assays.- A Modified ELISA for Measurement of High-Avidity IgG Antibodies to Meningococcal Serogroup C Polysaccharide that Correlate with Bactericidal Titers.- Whole-Blood Model.- Antibody-Induced Opsonophagocytosis of Serogroup B Meningococci Measured by Flow Cytometry.- T-Cell Responses Against Meningococcal Antigens.- CD4 T-Cell Epitope Mapping.- Epitope Mapping.- Meningococcal Vaccine Trials.- The Introduction of Group C Conjugate Meningococcal Vaccine into the UK.

The development of a comprehensive vaccine against Neisseria meningitidis, the causative agent of meningococcal disease, has remained elusive because of bacterial diversity and immunologic evasion. In Meningococcal Vaccines: Methods and Protocols, Andrew Pollard and Martin Maiden have assembled an impressive collection of the latest molecular and cellular techniques for the development, evaluation, and implementation of vaccines to be used against this dreaded disease. The contributors-leading scientists, clinicians, and public health physicians-describe in detail the many approaches to vaccine design, as well as the assessment of immune response to vaccine candidates and novel vaccine formulations. They also present as a test case the recent implementation of a new meningococcal vaccine in the United Kingdom. A companion volume, Meningococcal Disease: Methods and Protocols, contains detailed methods for diagnostic microbiology, bacterial characterization, epidemiology, host-pathogen interactions, and clinical studies. Timely and comprehensive, Meningococcal Vaccines: Methods and Protocols provides the scientist, public health physician, epidemiologist, clinical microbiologist, and clinician with the essential tools to lay bare the secrets of the meningococcus and to develop, evaluate, and implement successful new meningococcal vaccines.

"This volume is an impressive collection of the latest techniques in the development, evaluation and application of meningococcal vaccines. The easy-to-follow protocols each preceded by a brief introduction into the topic were provided by leading scientists in the field. Andrew Pollard and Martin Maiden did a great job in assembling these protocols into one volume - a work we all in the meningococcal field have waited for." - International Journal of Medical Microbiology. "The strength of this text is that it provides a key reference source, enabling researchers in the field to avoid reinventing the wheel. The text also provides the basis for the development of new ideas. Each chapter takes a step-by-step approach with clearly set out notes highlighting the problem areas. All the chapters have comprehensive bibliographies, and are well structured. The text is easily accessible and is recommended to those who are seeking to critically appraise the field of meningococcal vaccines." - Epidemiology and Infection "This book and its accompanying volume are well produced, easy to read and well edited. Andrew Pollard and Martin Maiden are to be congratulated in bringing together in these two volumes an enormous amount of information about this very important topical infection." -Molecular Biotechnology