No abstract

If vaccination is to precede the adolescent rise in MenB carriage, these data suggest it should take place in early adolescence. Studies assessing vaccine impact should use molecular methods to detect carriage.

A vaccine against serogroup B meningococcus has recently been licensed for use in Europe 1 and is being considered for licensure in Canada. This vaccine, known as multicomponent serogroup B men in gococcal (4CMenB) vaccine, consists of 3 recombinant proteins: factor H binding protein (fHbp), Neisseria ad he sin A (NadA) and Neisseria heparin binding antigen (NHBA) combined with detoxified outer membrane vesicles from the strain responsible for an epidemic of serogroup B meningococcal disease in New Zealand (NZ98/254). Clinical trials of 4CMenB have shown it to be immunogenic against reference strains selected to specifically express one of the vaccine antigens.2-6 On the basis of these trials, the approved schedule for infants aged 2 to 5 months is 3 doses given at least 1 month apart, with a booster dose given at 12 to 23 months of age. 7 The persistence of vaccineinduced antibodies throughout childhood following this booster dose is unknown, but it is particularly relevant because the incidence of invasive serogroup B meningococcal disease in children aged 1 to 4 years is second only to the incidence in children less than 1 year of age. 8In this study, we assessed the persistence of these bactericidal antibodies in children aged 40-44 months who had previously received either 4CMenB or a vaccine containing the recombinant proteins alone (recombinant protein serogroup B meningococcal [rMenB] vaccine) at 2, 4, 6 and 12 months of age. 3 We also assessed the immunogenicity and reactogenicity of a booster dose. This article has been peer reviewed. Methods Participants