Killing bacteria softly in the cerebrospinal fluid may be advantageous in bacterial meningitis.

摘要

Bacterial meningitis affects all age groups and continues to be a significant cause of disability and loss of life despite improvements in prophylaxis and therapy during the past 25 years. The Hib vaccine has led to a virtual disappearance of Hae-mophilus influenzae serotype b meningitis in countries in which it has been adopted in the childhood immunization program. An analogous protein-conjugated vaccine against Streptococcus pneumoniae covering seven major serotypes holds a similar promise and has reduced the number of pneumococcal meningitis cases in the United States by~30% (1).