The aim of MGC@Home is the study of meningococcal C (Neisseria meningitidis), which is, with Haemophilius Influenzae of B type, the bacterium that causes the feared meningitis, as well as other serious illnesses such as sepsis. Meningococcal can cause irreversible damage or even death.
Its transmission is very simple, just via nasal secretions, saliva, sneezing or coughing of carriers, or as simple as kissing a friend or sharing a beer with friends in a pub. We have been protected So far thanks to vaccines taken at 2, 4, 6 and 18 months that prevents the bacterium from spreading.
However, it has been recently found that the effect of the vaccine (that determined the vaccination strategy above) was not as expected because it is very dependent on the age when it is applied, which leads to two questions much interest today:
First, the vaccine effect is small in adolescents, an age especially critical;
and second, this forces us to consider new vaccination strategies.