Meningococcal B vaccination strategies and their practical application in Italy

Immunisation against meningococcal meningitis has a long history, which has passed through several phases: the studies by Flexner, extraction of the polysaccharide capsule, the development of monovalent and multivalent conjugate vaccines, the outer membrane vesicle vaccines up to the development of effective and safe vaccines for meningococcal B invasive disease through the application of the techniques of molecular biology and reverse vaccinology. The new available vaccines are Bexsero(®) and Trumenba(®). Bexsero (®) has been approved and is available in Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia and Chile, and is currently under review in Brazil for the prevention of MenB invasive disease in subjects ≥ 2 months. Trumemba(®) is currently approved only in the USA, for use in adolescents and young adults. At present, the greatest obstacle to the extensive use of these vaccines in industrialised countries is the high cost and the need administer multiple doses in infants. However, in some European countries and in some Italian Regions, strategies (free and active call) to fight the disease through vaccination (Bexsero(®)) are already in place.