Abstract
Many bacteria responsible for human diseases are not pathogens in the strictest sense; rather they are commensal organisms which cause disease as a consequence of a failed or dysfunctional interaction with their host. For the pediatrician Neisseria meningitidis, the meningococcus, is perhaps the most dramatic example of such an organism. Indeed, the designation of the meningococcus as a commensal may appear to be strange or even ridiculous from a clinical perspective. Meningococcal disease, comprising the two syndromes meningitis and septicemia, is one of the most dangerous conditions that a pediatrician is likely to encounter (Brandtzaeg, 1995). Its dramatic symptoms, together with the rapidity with which it progresses, contribute to the reputation of the meningococcus as a more than usually aggressive pathogen. However, meningococcal disease is very rare relative to the universal presence of asymptomatic meningococcal carriage in human populations (Broome, 1986).
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Maiden, M.C.J. (2004). Dynamics of Bacterial Carriage and Disease: Lessons from the Meningococcus. In: Pollard, A.J., McCracken, G.H., Finn, A. (eds) Hot Topics in Infection and Immunity in Children. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 549. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8993-2_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8993-2_5
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