Meningococcal disease is caused by Neisseria meningitidis; 13 serogroups have been identified and differentiated from each other through their capsular polysaccharide. Serotypes A, B, C, W, X, and Y are responsible for nearly all infections worldwide. The most common clinical manifestations are meningitis and invasive meningococcal disease, both characterized by high mortality and long-term sequelae. The infection rate is higher in children younger than 1 year and in adolescents, who are frequently asymptomatic carriers. Vaccination is the most effective method of preventing infection and transmission. Currently, both monovalent meningococcal vaccines (against A, B, and C serotypes) and quadrivalent meningococcal vaccines (against serogroups ACYW) are available and recommended according to local epidemiology. The purpose of this article is to describe the meningococcal vaccines and to identify instruments that are useful for reducing transmission and implementing the vaccination coverage. This aim could be reached by switching from the monovalent to the quadrivalent vaccine in the first year of life, increasing vaccine promotion against ACYW serotypes among adolescents, and extending the free offer of the anti-meningococcal B vaccine to teens, co-administering it with others proposed in the same age group. Greater awareness of the severity of the disease and increased health education through web and social networks could represent the best strategies for promoting adhesion and active participation in the vaccination campaign. Finally, the development of a licensed universal meningococcal vaccine should be another important objective.

Staphylococcus aureus persistently colonizes the skin and nasopharynx of approximately 20% to 30% of individuals, with the highest rates in younger children. To avoid clinical problems for carriers and the spread of S aureus to other hospitalized patients, screening and decolonization of carriers undergoing surgery has been recommended. However, the best approach to patients undergoing clean surgery is not precisely defined. To evaluate whether children carrying S aureus admitted to the hospital for clean elective surgery have an increased risk of postoperative surgical infections, 393 infants and children (77.1% males; mean age ± standard deviation, 7.6 ± 4.5 years) who were scheduled for clean elective surgery procedures were evaluated for S aureus carriage on the day of intervention and 5 days after it. Both anterior nares and pharyngeal swabs were collected. S aureus was identified using the RIDAGENE methicillin-resistant S aureus (MRSA) system (R-Biopharm AG, Darmstadt, Germany), according to the manufacturer's instructions. At admission, 138 (35.1%) children screened positive for S aureus. MRSA was identified in 40 (29.0% of S aureus positive subjects) cases. The carriage rates of S aureus and MRSA varied considerably with age, and in children <2 years old the rate was significantly lower than in any other age group (P < .05). Surgical site infection was demonstrated in 4 out of 109 (3.7%) children who were initially colonized by S aureus and in 5 out of 201 (2.5%) children with a negative screening, without any statistically significant difference between groups (P = .72). None of these children had MRSA. These results seem to suggest that children undergoing clean elective surgery do not need to be screened for S aureus colonization because, although positive, they have no increased risk of surgical site infection. Following this statement, preoperative procedures should be simplified with relevant advantages from a clinical, social, and economic point of view.