CHORI study reveals potential improvements for effectiveness of meningococcal vaccines

A study conducted by UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI) scientists shows greatly improved protective antibody responses to a new mutant vaccine antigen for prevention of disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis – also known as meningococcus – that has the potential to improve the current vaccines for meningitis. The study, “Enhanced Protective Antibody to a Mutant Meningococcal Factor H-Binding Protein with Low Factor H Binding,” authored by Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI) scientists Dan Granoff, MD, and Peter Beernink, PhD will be featured in the September 8th, 2016 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation Insight. “This study in infant monkeys builds on our previous research in mice with mutant antigens and has the potential to greatly improve protection elicited by current vaccines targeting meningococcal disease,” says Dr. Granoff, Director of CHORI’s Center for Immunobiology and Vaccine Development. Meningococci are bacteria responsible for causing meningitis and severe bloodstream infections. Infants...