Antibody and memory CD4(+) T-cell responses after meningococcal disease.

Currently, Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C (MenC) is the major cause of bacterial meningitis in Brazil, affecting mainly teenagers and adults due to the lack of routine public vaccination of these age groups. The goal of this study was to investigate the bactericidal antibody response and the development of CD4(+) T cell memory during the convalescent phase of patients infected with N. menigitidis. Most (85.7%) of the patients developed a protective antibody response against MenC and 57% also responded to N. meningitidis serogroup B. We detected a significant CD4(+) T central memory (TCM) response to meningococcal outer membrane proteins.