Vaccine hope as meningitis study finds genetic link

Published on Sunday 8 August 2010 15:19

GENETIC factors behind the deaths of children struck down by meningitis have been identified for the first time.

Experts hope the breakthrough will boost development of vaccines that protect against the deadliest strain of meningitis bacteria.

Currently there is no vaccine for the Group B strain, which each year claims thousands of lives around the world.

Scientists scoured the genetic codes of more than 6,000 people for clues to why certain individuals are more vulnerable to attacks by meningococcal meningitis than others. They found evidence that genetics plays a key role in the way the body responds to the infection.

It was already known that most people carry the bugs in their throat without ever succumbing to the disease.

Occasionally the bacteria strike with devastating force, leading to death in up to one in ten cases.

About 1,500 cases of bacterial meningitis are recorded in the UK each year. Most victims are children under five and teenagers. Progress of the infection can be extremely fast, with patients becoming critically ill within hours.

Meningitis affects the layers of membranous tissue that surround the brain, but sometimes the infection leads to septicaemia, a highly dangerous form of blood poisoning.

Although people can be immunised against some types of meningococcal bacteria scientists have been unable to develop a vaccine against the Group B strain.

The new research, led by teams in London and Singapore, involved the biggest ever genetic study of bacterial meningitis.

Scientists looked at the genetic makeup of 1,500 people from the UK, Holland, Austria and Spain, who had developed meningococcal meningitis.

The findings, published in the journal Nature Genetics, showed that susceptible people had alterations in their DNA around genes for "Factor H" proteins. These regulate a bacteria-fighting part of the immune system and prevent it damaging the body's own cells.

Sue Davie, chief executive of the Meningitis Trust charity, said: "This exciting work has thrown new light on factors that play a part in determining why some people get meningococcal disease and others do not."