Glossary

Meningococcal disease is a somewhat complicated illness, with terms that can often be confusing. Below you’ll find some helpful definitions to make it all easier to understand.

Meningococcal Disease Glossary of Terms

 

Antibiotic: A substance or compound that kills or inhibits the growth of bacteria. Antibiotics are commonly used to treat bacterial diseases.

Bacteria: Single-celled germs that typically live in soil, water, or the bodies of plants and animals and can cause disease. 

Bacterial meningitis: Swelling of the meninges, which are the covering of the brain, caused by bacteria. It can be serious and life threatening.

Encephalitis: Swelling of the brain.

Epidemic: A sudden outbreak of a disease, occurring in higher numbers than expected.

Immunization: Often known as a vaccination, it’s  a process or procedure that increases a person’s reaction to antigens, thereby improving their ability to resist or overcome infection.

Meningococcal conjugate vaccine: A vaccine that protects against 4 of the 5 kinds of bacteria that causes most cases of meningococcal meningitis and septicemia (sepsis), a life-threatening infection of the blood.

Meningitis: Swelling of the meninges—the covering of the brain and spinal cord—usually caused by bacteria or a virus. If caused by Neisseria meningitidis bacteria, it goes by the name meningococcal disease.

Meningococcal meningitis: Bacterial meningitis caused by the infection Neisseria meningitidis.

Meningococcemia: Infection of the blood (sepsis) caused by Neisseria meningitidis.

Neisseria meningitidis: A bacteria that lives in the nose and the mouth. It can cause bacterial meningitis and pneumonia.

Spinal cord: Tubular bundle of nervous tissue that transmits neural signals between the brain and the rest of the body.

Viral meningitis: The most common type of meningitis, viral meningitis is serious but rarely deadly in people with normal immunity. It usually lasts from 7 to 10 days, with the patient recovering completely.

Virus: A submicroscopic agent that can cause infection and can multiply only within living cells.

Indication

Menveo is a vaccine indicated for active immunization to prevent invasive meningococcal disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis serogroups A, C, Y, and W-135. Menveo is approved for use in persons 2 to 55 years of age. Menveo does not prevent N. meningitidis serogroup B infections.

Important Safety Information

You should not receive Menveo if you have had a severe allergic reaction to any ingredient of the vaccine, or if you have had a severe allergic reaction to a vaccine containing similar components as Menveo.

Side effects to Menveo include pain at the injection site, headache, muscle pain, fatigue, nausea, and fainting. Sometimes fainting is accompanied by falling with injury. Other side effects may occur.

Following vaccination with another US-licensed meningococcal conjugate vaccine, an evaluation of postmarketing adverse events suggested a potential for increased risk of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS). There is not enough information to evaluate if a risk of GBS exists following administration of Menveo.

Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or planning to get pregnant.

Vaccination with Menveo may not protect all individuals.

For more information about Menveo, talk to your health-care professional.

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