Novel therapy for meningitis prevention

Probiotic nose drops reduced the likelihood of students being colonized with the bacteria that cause meningitis, according to a study published online March 25 in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

The nose drops contained Neisseria lactamica, a non-disease-causing relative of the bacterium that causes meningitis, Neisseria meningitidis. Epidemiological studies had previously shown that people who carry N lactamica in their nose and throat are both less likely to be colonized with N meningitidis and less likely to contract meningitis than people who do not, possibly because colonization with one species prevents colonization with the other.

This work was supported by Life for a Cure, a charity established by Michelle and John Bresnahan in memory of their son Ryan; and Meningitis UK (now Meningitis Now).