We also owe many thanks to all the laboratories of Clinical Microbiology in Switzerland for the excellent partnership within this national surveillance system. Finally, this work

is dedicated to Prof. Kathrin Mühlemann who sadly passed away in November, 2012. She set up and led the NZPn at the Institute of Infectious Diseases in Bern, Switzerland for many years with uttermost dedication. Financial support: The NZPn in Switzerland is funded by the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH). Conflicts of interest: M.H. and K.M. received an educational grant from Pfizer AG for partial support and to fulfill speaking engagements (M.H.). However, Pfizer AG had no influence on any aspects of the NZPn’s tasks or any part of the current study. W.C.A. received research support from AZD2281 ic50 Pfizer, BMS-907351 research buy Binax, Thermo Scientific Biomarkers (formerly B.R.A.H.M.S. AG) and bioMérieux Inc., support from Thermo Scientific Biomarkers and bioMérieux Inc. to attend meetings and fulfill speaking engagements and honoraria from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). All other authors have reported no conflicts of interest. “
“Neisseria meningitidis is a major cause of bacterial sepsis and meningitis, often associated with high mortality rates and permanent sequelae in survivors [1]. Rates of invasive disease are highest in infants and adolescents/young adults,

with serogroups A, B, C, Y, and W being responsible for most cases [1]. Infection with A, C, Y, and W can be prevented with capsular polysaccharide conjugate vaccines; however, polysaccharide conjugate vaccines are not effective

against N. meningitidis serogroup B (MnB), which accounts for 33% of meningococcal infections in the United States and the majority in Europe [2], [3] and [4]. Lipoprotein LP2086, a human factor H-binding protein (fHBP), was identified as a vaccine candidate [5]. The LP2086 gene is highly conserved, with >83% sequence identity within the 2 identified subfamilies, labeled A and B, and is present in all strains included in a database of 1837 invasive MnB isolates [6]. Few strains have been identified to date that do not express fHBP [7] and [8]. Preclinical studies showed that a bivalent, recombinant Idoxuridine LP2086 (rLP2086)-based vaccine containing equal amounts of subfamily A and B proteins could elicit serum bactericidal antibodies capable of killing diverse MnB strains [5] and [9]. Phase 1 and 2 studies in healthy toddlers, children, adolescents, and adults showed the bivalent rLP2086 vaccine to be well tolerated and immunogenic in these patient populations [10], [11], [12], [13], [14] and [15]. The primary objectives of this study were to assess the immunogenicity, safety, and tolerability of a 4-dose series of bivalent rLP2086 vaccine at 1 of 4 dose levels given with routine childhood vaccines in vaccine-naive infants. The safety data are reported herein.