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`Seek and destroy` vaccines for meningitis outdated
April 03, 2002The ability of meningococci bacteria to change their cell surface proteins could reduce the effectiveness of the current meningitis C vaccine. Now scientists are working on vaccines that would allow us to co-exist happily with these microbes, according to research presented today (Monday 08 April 2002) at the spring meeting of the Society for General Microbiology at the University of Warwick.
"We have identified several proteins secreted by meningococci, which are involved in causing disease but which do not prevent the bacteria from living and reproducing in the body. By including secreted proteins in a vaccine we may avoid the strong selective pressures that cause meningococci to mutate so quickly," says Dr Del Ala’Aldeen of the University Hospital of Nottingham.
Dr Ala’Aldeen explains, "We have shown that meningococci disguise themselves by changing their coat proteins while carried in the throat, which allows them to avoid being detected by the immune system. There is genuine concern that such escape among Group C meningococci may result from the strong selective pressure applied as a result of mass vaccination."
"It is possible that we may never be able to eradicate organisms such as meningococci or even reduce their circulation in the community. Our approach relies on targeting antigens that are largely secreted and are important in invasion (and disease) but do not affect colonization. This way we might eliminate or reduce invasive disease, and accept an eternal co-existence with meningococci bacteria," says Dr Ala’Aldeen.
Society for General Microbiology
"It is possible that we may never be able to eradicate organisms such as meningococci or even reduce their circulation in the community. Our approach relies on targeting antigens that are largely secreted and are important in invasion (and disease) but do not affect colonization. This way we might eliminate or reduce invasive disease, and accept an eternal co-existence with meningococci bacteria," says Dr Ala’Aldeen.
Society for General Microbiology
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Exposure to both traffic, indoor pollutants puts some kids at higher risk for asthma later
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New study finds MRSA on the rise in hospital outpatients
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Researchers establish common seasonal pattern among bacterial communities in Arctic rivers
New research on bacterial communities throughout six large Arctic river ecosystems reveals predictable temporal patterns, suggesting that scientists could use these communities as markers for monitoring climate change in the polar regions.
Biologists discover bacterial defense mechanism against aggressive oxygen
Bacteria possess an ingenious mechanism for preventing oxygen from harming the building blocks of the cell.
Saving the single cysteine: new antioxidant system found
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Surface bacteria maintain skin's healthy balance
On the skin's surface, bacteria are abundant, diverse and constant, but inflammation is undesirable. Research at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine now shows that the normal bacteria living on the skin surface trigger a pathway that prevents excessive inflammation after injury.
On the Trail of a Vaccine for Lyme Disease: Yale Researchers Target Tick Saliva
A protein found in the saliva of ticks helps protect mice from developing Lyme disease, Yale researchers have discovered. The findings, published in the November 19 issue of Cell Host & Microbe, may spur development of a new vaccine against infection from Lyme disease, which is spread through tick bites.
Cigarettes Harbor Many Bacteria Harmful to Human Health
Cigarettes are "widely contaminated" with bacteria, including some known to cause disease in people, concludes a new international study conducted by a University of Maryland environmental health researcher and microbial ecologists at the Ecole Centrale de Lyon in France.
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