Meningococcal septicemia and meningitis continue to be important causes of devastating illness, death, and long-term disability in both developed and resource-poor countries of the world. Few diseases have attracted as much public attention, or are as feared by parents and family members, as well as the medical staff who have to care for affected patients. 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. Over the past two decades there has been a rapid increase in knowledge of many aspects of meningococcal disease as a result of intensive efforts by workers in many different fields: clinicians have studied the early presenting features and acute pathophysiology of the disorder; clinical scientists have explored the immunopathological mechanisms responsible for disease and have highlighted the important roles played by the host inflammatory response and pro-inflammatory cytokines in mediating damage to blood vessels and organs; microbiologists have developed new diagnostic methods; public health phy- cians and epidemiologists have improved surveillance techniques with the help of molecular tools provided by bacterial population biologists; and basic sci- tists have used the powerful new tools in molecular and cell biology to elucidate virulence mechanisms.

Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Klappentext
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.

Inhalt
Microbiology and Laboratory Diagnosis.- Isolation, Culture, and Identification of Meningococci from Clinical Specimens.- PCR Diagnosis.- Detection of Meningococcal Antigen by Latex Agglutination.- Meningococcal Serology.- Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing.- Molecular Approach for the Study of Penicillin Resistance In Neisseria meningitidis.- Overview: Epidemiology, Surveillance, and Population Biology.- Serological Characterization.- Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis.- Nucleotide Sequencing of Antigen Genes of Neisseria meningitidis.- Multi-Locus Sequence Typing.- Capsular Operons.- Molecular Analysis of the Meningococcal LPS Expression.- Genome Sequencing and Annotation.- Representational Difference Analysis.- Managing Outbreaks.- Global Trends in Meningococcal Disease.- Epidemiology, Surveillance, and Population Biology.- Surveillance of Meningococcal Disease in Europe.- Global Surveillance for Meningococcal Disease.- Epidemiology of Meningococcal Disease in North America.- Computational Methods for Meningococcal Population Studies.- Clinical Studies.- Clinical Scoring Systems in Meningococcal Disease.- Quantitative Detection of Bacterial Lipopolysaccharides in Clinical Specimens.- Isolation and Analysis of Radiolabeled Meningococcal Endotoxin.- Cytokine Measurement In Vivo and In Vitro.- Cytokine Bioassays.- Molecular Analysis of Gene-Polymorphisms Affecting the Host Response to Infection.- Coagulation Studies.- Complement Pathways and Meningococcal Disease.- Evaluation of New Treatments for Meningococcal Disease.- Studies on the Effect of Neisserial Porins on Apoptosis of Mammalian Cells.- Molecular Recognition Mechanisms of Meningococci.- Experimental Nasopharyngeal Colonization by Neisseria meningitidis using Explant Organ Culture.- Invasion of the Central NervousSystem by Neisseria meningitidis.- Interactions of Meningococci with Endothelium.- A Promoter Probe Plasmid Based on Green Fluorescent Protein.- Signature-Tagged Mutagenesis.