Meningococcal meningitis Prevention in travellers

Introduction

This article is the first in a series providing a summary of prevention strategies and vaccination for infections that may be acquired by travellers. The series aims to provide practical strategies to assist general practitioners in giving travel advice, as a synthesis of multiple information sources which must otherwise be consulted. The risk of travel associated meningococcal disease is generally small for travellers, and epidemics are difficult to predict. However, it is a potentially very serious infection with high mortality. Vaccination is recommended for travellers to high risk or endemic areas, particularly arid sub-Saharan regions and areas with current or recent epidemics. Internet based resources are available for up-to-date outbreak information.