Prophylaxis for Meningococcal Disease
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Excerpt
THE PAST decade has been a tumultuous one for meningococcologists. The emergence and spread of sulfadiazine-resistant strains, which were first reported in 1963, ended a 20-year period in which control of the dreaded disease was possible with a brief, inexpensive chemoprophylactic regimen (sulfadiazine, 2 gm a day for two days). Intensive research over the next six years led to the development of purified capsular polysaccharide vaccines.1 These were subsequently proved to be effective in preventing disease caused by serogroup C and serogroup A organisms. Meningococcal disease in the United States has been at a low ebb in recent years even though vaccines have not been available for general use.
Other countries have not been so fortunate. Epidemic meningitis in Brazil has been commanding considerable newspaper coverage recently. Since 1971, Sao Paulo has experienced an epidemic of sulfadiazine-resistant serogroup C disease, with an overall rate of 11.3/100,000 total population per
Footnotes
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Reprint requests to Department of Bacterial Diseases, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Washington, DC 20012 (Dr. Artenstein).
