E-Book Overview
Andrew Pollard and Martin Maiden bring together a panel of leading authorities to produce a comprehensive, interdisciplinary survey of recent advances and knowledge about meneigococcal 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. Meningococcal Disease: Methods and Protocols integrates the basic science, clinical, and epidemiological aspects of this terrible infectious disease to promote the deeper understanding needed to identify novel targets for therapeutic interventions and vaccines.
E-Book Content
M E T H O D S I N M O L E C U L A R M E D I C I N E TM
Meningococcal Disease Methods and Protocols Edited by
Andrew J. Pollard, MD, PhD Martin C. J. Maiden, PhD
Humana Press Press Humana
Microbiology and Laboratory Diagnosis
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1 Microbiology and Laboratory Diagnosis Keith Cartwright 1. Introduction 1.1. Historical Background In 1887, Anton Weichselbaum, a Viennese doctor, was the first to report the isolation of meningococci from patients with meningitis (1). Shortly after, came the first description of lumbar puncture in living patients (2), leading to the isolation of meningococci from acute cases of meningitis. Three years later, Kiefer grew meningococci from the nasopharynx of cases of meningococcal disease, and from their contacts (3), a finding of immense significance in advancing understanding of the epidemiology and pathogenesis of the disease. Early serological typing systems demonstrated that there were important differences between meningococci in ter