MeNZB: a safe and highly immunogenic tailor-made vaccine against the New Zealand Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B disease epidemic strain

Clinical studies have been conducted in New Zealand evaluating the safety and immunogenicity of an outer membrane vesicle (OMV) vaccine, MeNZB, developed to control epidemic disease caused by group B meningococci, subtype P1.7b,4. MeNZB, administered in a three-dose regimen, was well tolerated and induced a seroresponse, defined as a four-fold rise (> or =titre 8) in serum bactericidal antibodies against the vaccine strain 4-6 weeks after the third vaccination, in 96% (95% confidence interval (CI): 79-100%) of adults, 76% (95% CI: 72-80%) of children, 75% (95% CI: 69-80%) of toddlers and 74% (95% CI: 67-80%) of infants receiving MeNZB. In conclusion, these findings suggest that MeNZB is safe and is likely to confer protection against systemic group B meningococcal disease caused by the epidemic strain.