BENIGN bugs that live in the noses of many infants have inspired a much-needed vaccine against a deadly form of meningitis.
Based on the bacterium Neisseria lactamica, the prototype vaccine is showing promise against group B meningococcal meningitis and septicaemia, the potentially fatal blood poisoning that often accompanies meningitis. There is no reliable vaccine against the bacteria at present.
Britain introduced a vaccine in November 1999 against group C meningococcal meningitis—the other major form of the disease afflicting industrialised countries. “The Department of ÎçÒ¹¸£Àû1000¼¯ºÏ estimates that at least 50 lives have been saved by it,” says Andy Gorringe, head of…
