Isolates were classified into 3 age groups: group 1: children <5

Isolates were classified into 3 age groups: group 1: children <5 years with isolates from both sterile sites (total 64: 59 blood, 4 cerebrospinal fluid, 1 pleural fluid) and non-sterile sites (total 42: 32 respiratory specimen, 6 ear swab, 2 eye swab, 2 gastric wash), group 2: patients 5–64 years with isolates from sterile sites only (total 62: 53 blood, 3 cerebrospinal fluid, 6 pleural fluid), and group 3: patients >65 years with isolates from sterile sites only (total 46: 44 blood, 2 pleural fluid). In this study, we performed serotyping and analysed serotype OSI-906 coverage of PCV-7, PCV-9, PCV-10, PCV-11 and PCV-13. PCV-9 is PCV-7 plus 1 and 5. PCV-10 is PCV-9 plus 7F, PCV-11 is PCV-10

plus 3, PCV-13 is PCV-11 plus 6 A and 19A. To determine capsule serotypes of isolates, we performed the Quellung test [11], using various specific group and factor antisera according to the manufacturer’s guideline from the State Serum Institute, Denmark. Typing was done with an addition of a loopful (a few microliters) of methylene blue 0.3% (w/v) in a bacterial suspension on a glass slide, using a microscope (OYMPUS BX 50 Model U-MD08, Oympus Corporation, Tokyo, http://www.selleckchem.com/products/PD-0332991.html Japan) with an oil immersion

lens (magnification, 10 × 100). The isolates that were not one of the serotypes included in PCV-7, PCV-9, PCV-10, PCV-11 and PCV-13 vaccines were not further typed and were labeled as nonvaccine types. Bacterial susceptibility of the isolates to penicillin, cefotaxime, ofloxacin and ciprofloxacin were evaluated by standard microbroth dilution using cation-adjusted Mueller-Hinton broth supplemented with 3% lysed horse blood [13] and E-test method (AB Biodisk, Sweden) according to the manufacturer’s guideline. S. pneumoniae ATCC 49619 was used as the control. The penicillin minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) were interpreted as susceptible, intermediate or resistant category according to Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) recommendations [13]. This new criteria take into account whether penicillin is given orally or parenterally and whether a patient has meningitis.

Under the former criteria, the isolates from all clinical syndrome and penicillin routes, were interpreted as susceptible, intermediate, and resistant if MIC were ≥0.06, 0.12–1, and ≥2 μg/ml, respectively. Under the new criteria, the isolates are classified into 3 categories, through i.e., meningitis with parenteral penicillin treatment (susceptible and resistant if MIC are ≤0.06 and ≥0.12 μg/ml, respectively); nonmeningitis with parenteral penicillin treatment (susceptible, intermediate and resistant if MIC are ≤2, 4 and ≥8 μg/ml, respectively); and non-meningitis with oral penicillin treatment (susceptible, intermediate, and resistant if MIC were ≤0.06, 0.12–1, and ≥2 μg/ml), respectively. The criterion for resistance to ciprofloxacin was MIC ≥4 μg/ml [14]; S. aureus ATCC 25923 was used as the control. The descriptive analysis was used in this study.

Together, these circuit properties endow the retina with complex

Together, these circuit properties endow the retina with complex signal processing capabilities, which have only partially been elucidated and whose characteristics Selleckchem Rapamycin remain a central topic of current research in neuroscience. The spike patterns of ganglion cells do not simply represent the level of incident light at a certain spot within the visual field, but rather can encode more complex features of the visual stimulus. Several recent examples have shown that the specific computations underlying the detection and representation of these features can be

understood based on how the respective ganglion cells pool visual inputs over space and time. These findings have called renewed attention to the critical role of nonlinearities in retinal signal integration (Gollisch and Meister, 2010, da Silveira and Roska, 2011 and Schwartz and Rieke, 2011). Although it has long been known that nonlinear integration exists in the retina and that ganglion cells can distinctly

differ in whether they act linearly or nonlinearly (Enroth-Cugell and Robson, 1966), there are only few examples Saracatinib clinical trial of quantitative assessments of the relevant nonlinearities. This calls for new efforts and approaches to take nonlinear signal integration explicitly into account in both experimental and modeling studies. Here, we discuss some emergent ideas regarding the computational roles, the functional forms, and the experimental assessment of nonlinearities in the receptive fields of retinal ganglion cells. Ganglion cells receive their excitatory input from bipolar cells, which in turn are driven by photoreceptors.

This structure leads to a high degree of signal convergence onto single ganglion cells (Hartline, 1940b and Barlow, 1953), leading to the pooling of signals from more than a hundred bipolar cells by some ganglion cells (Freed and Sterling, 1988). Bipolar cells of the same type are organized in fairly regular spatial patterns (Lin and Masland, 2005 and Wässle et al., 2009), and their dendritic 17-DMAG (Alvespimycin) HCl trees – and correspondingly their receptive fields – are typically much smaller than that of the postsynaptic ganglion cell. Bipolar cells, in turn, collect inputs in a similar fashion from typically several photoreceptors (Freed et al., 1987 and Tsukamoto et al., 2001). This stage therefore provides another important site of stimulus integration. Both sites of spatial signal integration – from photoreceptors to bipolar cells and from bipolar cells to ganglion cells – are modulated by inhibitory interactions, mediated by horizontal cells and amacrine cells, respectively. These add lateral interactions over space and thereby directly influence spatial integration. But they also act locally by modulating or antagonizing the feed-forward excitation of individual bipolar cells and thereby influence which local signals are integrated by ganglion cells.

The GC–MS analysis of the methanol, chloroform and ethanol extrac

The GC–MS analysis of the methanol, chloroform and ethanol extracts of leaves of C. decandra is tabulated ( Table 1). The methanol extract is found to contain fatty acids, esters, steroids, triterpenes, alcohols, and the major constituents found to be 1,3-Diolein (triterpene) at retention time of 21.557 min, Lupeol (triterpene) at retention time of 28.708 min, Stigmast-5-en-3-ol, oleate (steroid) at retention time of 26.011 min, Glycidol stearate (esters) at retention time of 20.067 min, Methyl linolenate (ester) at retention time of 21.518 min, Clionasterol (triterpene) at retention time of 27.760 min. The major phytochemical constituents present in methanol extract of C. decandra are identified as 1,3-Diolein (30.35%), Glycidol

stearate (16.14%), Methyl linolenate (8.62%), GSK1349572 manufacturer Lupeol (5.63%), Clionasterol (4.15%), Stigmast-5-en-3-ol, oleate (3.41%). The chloroform extract is found to contain esters, alkanes, alkenes, steroids, diterpenes, triterpenes, and the major constituents

found to be Phthalic acid dioctyl ester (ester) at retention time of 22.030 min, squalene (triterpene) at retention time of 24.022 min, Stigmast-5-en-3-ol, (3.beta.) (steroid) at retention time of 27.783 min, α-amyrin (triterpene) at retention time of 28.250 min, Lupeol (triterpene) at retention time of 28.855 min ( Fig. 1). The major constituents present in chloroform extract of C. decandra are identified as Lupeol (66.95%), Phthalic acid dioctyl ester (9.29%), α-amyrin (6.68%), Stigmast-5-en-3-ol, (3.beta.) (2.74%), squalene (1.24%). The ethanolic extract is found to contain esters, alkanes, alkenes, steroids, first alkaloids and alcohols. The major constituents PF-01367338 in vivo found to be 1H-Purin-6-amine, [(2-fluorophenyl)methyl] (purines or alkaloids) at retention time of 21.151 min, A-Neooleana-3(5),12-diene (alkene) at retention time of 24.941 min, 9,19-Cycloergost-24(28)-en-3-ol, 4,14-dimethyl-, acetate, (3.beta.,4.alpha.,5.alpha.)

(steroid) at retention time of 25.942 min, Stigmast-5-en-3-ol, (3.beta.) (steroid) at retention time of 26.016 min, 9,19-Cycloergost-24(28)-en-3-ol, 4,14-dimethyl-, acetate (steroid) at retention time of 26.405 min, Cycloartenol (alcohol) at retention time of 26.450 min, Methyl commate B at retention time of 28.710 min, Fumaric acid, tetradec-3-enyl tridecyl ester (ester) at retention time of 28.979 min. The phytochemical constituents present in ethanolic extract of C. decandra are identified as 9,19-Cycloergost-24(28)-en-3-ol,4,14-dimethyl-, acetate, (3.beta.,4.alpha.,5.alpha.) (39.88%), Stigmast-5-en-3-ol, (3.beta.) (12.63%), 9,19-Cycloergost-24(28)-en-3-ol, 4,14-dimethyl-, acetate (8.44%), A-Neooleana-3(5),12-diene (7.01%), 1H-Purin-6-amine, [(2-fluorophenyl)methyl] (6.84%). Molecular weight determination of α-amyrin and Lupeol of chloroform extracts shown in  Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 respectively. A preliminary study was conducted to investigate the larvicidal effects of the organic solvent (methanol, chloroform, and ethanol) extracts of C.

Therefore, after treatment of the primary tumor, in the presence

Therefore, after treatment of the primary tumor, in the presence of only minimal residual disease and with little immune suppression, there is sufficient time to develop an effective immune response with adjuvant dendritic cell vaccination. Furthermore, patients with a high risk for relapse could be selected

based on monosomy 3 status. The presence of monosomy 3 in the primary tumor is accepted widely as the most simple and reliable prognostic parameter, identified in approximately 50% of patients with primary uveal melanoma.46 Long-term studies have shown a 3-year survival rate of 40% if monosomy 3 is present, whereas tumors with normal chromosome 3 status rarely give rise to metastatic disease

and have a 90% 3-year survival rate.47 To date, no adjuvant MAPK inhibitor therapy has shown survival benefit in uveal melanoma,48 and 49 and because immunologic responses are seen more frequently in patients before clinically detectable metastasis develop, dendritic cell vaccination may be a good candidate. We currently are investigating this strategy in a randomized study. In conclusion, we show that dendritic cell vaccination is feasible and safe in metastatic uveal melanoma. Our data suggest the potential of dendritic cell-based immunotherapy to see more enhance the host’s antitumor immunity and that it may be associated with longer than average overall survival times in metastatic uveal melanoma. All authors have completed and submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest and isothipendyl none were reported. Supported by Grants KUN2010-4722 and KUN2009-4402 from the Dutch Cancer Society, the Netherlands; Grant ENCITEHEALTH-F5-2008-201842 from the European Union; Grant NWO-Vidi-917.76.363 from The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, the Netherlands; the Nijmeegs Offensief Tegen Kanker Foundation, Nijmegen, the Netherlands; and the Stichting

Combined Ophthalmic Research Rotterdam and Stichting Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek het Oogziekenhuis, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Dr Figdor received the Spinoza award of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research and Grant ERC-2010-AdG-269019-PATHFINDER from the European Research Council Advanced). Involved in Design and conduct of study (C.J.A.P., C.G.F., I.J.M.d.V.); Analysis and interpretation of data (K.F.B., H.W.M., E.H.J.G.A., G.S., J.E.E.K., P.G.C., A.d.K., C.J.A.P., D.P., C.G.F., I.J.M.d.V.); and Preparation (K.F.B., G.S., H.W.M., I.J.M.d.V.) and critical review and approval (K.F.B., H.W.M., E.H.J.G.A., G.S., J.E.E.K., P.G.C., A.d.K., C.J.A.P., D.P., C.G.F., I.J.M.d.V.) of manuscript.

However, a relatively recent systematic review found few clinical

However, a relatively recent systematic review found few clinical trials investigating the effectiveness of adherence strategies in people with chronic musculoskeletal pain including osteoarthritis (Jordan et al 2010). Manual therapy is commonly used in clinical practice for hip osteoarthritis with surveys revealing that 96% of Irish physiotherapists (French 2007) and over 80% of Australian

physiotherapists (Cowan et al 2010) include it in their usual management of this patient group. While UK clinical osteoarthritis guidelines (Conaghan et al 2008) and those from the American Physical Therapy Association (Cibulka et al 2009) recommended manual therapy as an adjunctive treatment for hip osteoarthritis, to date only three randomised LY2157299 clinical trial trials have evaluated the efficacy of manual therapy for this patient group (Abbott et al 2013, French et al Navitoclax 2013, Hoeksma et al 2004), with two providing high quality evidence of beneficial effects (Abbott et al 2013, Hoeksma et al 2004). One study involving 109 participants with hip osteoarthritis compared a 5-week manual therapy program with a therapist-supervised

exercise program (Hoeksma et al 2004). The manual therapy comprised traction and high velocity thrust traction manipulation of the hip joint as well as muscle stretches of iliopsoas, quadriceps, tensor fascia latae, gracilis, sartorius, and the hip adductors. The exercise program aimed to improve hip range of motion, muscle length, muscle strength, and walking these endurance. While both groups improved following treatment, the success rate (defined

as ‘improved’, ‘much improved’ or ‘free of complaints’) in the manual therapy group (81%) was significantly better than that in the exercise group (50%), (OR = 1.92, 95% CI 1.30 to 2.60). These benefits in favour of manual therapy were maintained at a 29-week follow-up. A more recent factorial study comparing the effects of manual therapy and exercise, alone or combined, against usual care in 206 people with hip or knee osteoarthritis also confirmed the benefits of manual therapy (Abbott et al 2013). The manual therapy was delivered in 9 sessions (7 visits in the first 9 weeks with 2 booster sessions at Week 16) and consisted of techniques to modify the quality and range of motion together with a home program of up to six joint range-of-motion exercises. Overall, and among the participants with hip osteoarthritis only, manual therapy alone resulted in greater reductions in pain and disability immediately after the treatment (effect size = 0.74) that were maintained at 1-year follow-up (Figure 4).

0; and the proportion of participants achieving an HAI titre ≥40

0; and the proportion of participants achieving an HAI titre ≥40 is >60%. Local reactions (redness, swelling, pain, and limitation of arm movement) at the PCV13 injection site and systemic events, including fever (oral temperature ≥38 °C), chills, fatigue, headache, vomiting, decreased appetite, rash, and new and aggravated generalized muscle or joint pain, and the use of antipyretic and pain medications to treat symptoms, was recorded for 14 days in an electronic diary by the participants. Other adverse events, which

were collected by the investigator in response to direct questioning of the subject on his/her health since the last visit, were documented on the case report form at each visit throughout the study; the investigator I-BET-762 ic50 assessed each adverse event for severity, for serious criteria, and causality. Sample size estimation MDV3100 manufacturer was based on the proportion of responders (achieving at least a 4-fold increase in HAI titre) in each group for TIV comparisons, and the GMCs

in each group for PCV13 comparisons. Sample sizes were calculated using nQuery Advisor® 6.0 (Statistical Solutions, Ltd., Cork, Ireland). This study was powered to show noninferiority of PCV13 + TIV relative to Placebo + TIV and PCV13 alone. For TIV comparisons, sample size calculations assumed power of at least 80%; a noninferiority criterion of −0.10 for the difference in proportions of responders; no difference in true responses between the groups ([PCV13 + TIV]−[Placebo + TIV alone]); a 2-sided, type-I error rate of 0.05; and a dropout rate of ≤7%. With these assumptions, 511 evaluable participants per group were needed for ADP ribosylation factor TIV comparisons.

A total of 1160 participants were randomly assigned to ensure 1022 evaluable participants for TIV comparisons. For IgG comparisons, sample size calculations assumed power of approximately 90%; 2-fold noninferiority criterion for GMCs; no difference in true responses between the groups ([PCV13 + TIV] − [PCV13 alone]); a 2-sided, type-I error of 0.05; and a dropout rate of ≤7%. With these assumptions, 281 evaluable participants per group were needed for pneumococcal comparisons. Eligible participants were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive PCV13 + TIV/Placebo or Placebo + TIV/PCV13 through the sponsor’s internet-based enrollment system. This system was accessed through the internet or an interactive voice-response system by authorized site staff. The randomization schedule used a randomized block design in which treatment sequences were randomly ordered within each block. All participants, study staff, and those assessing outcomes were blinded to the group assignment. The selection for inclusion in the IgG subset analysis occurred after all participants were enrolled. Participants were randomly ordered within treatment groups and assigned a rank (1, 2, 3, etc.

g from the World Health Organization [WHO] and EMA [8] and [9]),

g. from the World Health Organization [WHO] and EMA [8] and [9]), they may have to be adapted according

to the specificity of each vaccine. In the US, ‘Investigational New Drug’ (IND) submission is a major milestone in the vaccine development process. Before starting clinical trials, vaccine developers must submit pre-clinical CB-839 order data and the agenda for future clinical trials of their IND to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The information requested is intended to put the product development plan into perspective so that the US FDA can anticipate the needs of the vaccine developer. In Europe, regulatory permission to conduct a clinical trial, including authorisation from relevant independent ethics committees and/or institutional review boards, must be obtained from the competent authorities of the EU Member State where the clinical trial is being performed. This authorisation, however, is not to be considered as scientific advice on the development programme of the Investigational Medicinal Product (IMP) that is being tested. Scientific advice can be obtained independently, on a voluntary and, with some exceptions, on a fee-for-service basis from PR-171 mw EMA and/or from National Regulatory Agencies. In the absence of such advice, it is possible that EMA may consider that the trial design,

assays, biomarkers, endpoints or comparators are neither relevant nor sufficient to register the product. Regulatory agencies such as EMA, US FDA and international organisations such as WHO base their guidelines/evaluation criteria on the scientific evidence STK38 obtained by their own services or from external expert groups. EMA, for instance, relies mainly on data provided by external research groups. With the aim to provide EMA with the scientific evidence it needs to address issues impacting the licensure of new and improved vaccines, EVRI will establish expert groups to address emerging issues regarding regulatory approval of vaccines such as assay validation, standardisation

and harmonisation; validation of biomarkers and endpoints for clinical trials; reference animal models; comparative studies. It will also be the link between those groups and EMA. During the preparation and implementation stages, discussions with EMA will be conducted in order to specify the needs and define the services to be provided by EVRI. Vaccinology is multidisciplinary and multi-professional by nature. It covers basic research in immunology and microbiology at one end of the vaccine development process, translational research and product development in the middle, and logistics, clinical delivery and public health education at the other end. Some aspects of vaccinology are included in various curricula: medicine, biological sciences, pharmaceutical sciences, nursing, midwifery, and biotechnology. Given the huge impact of vaccinology on global health, it merits recognition as a discipline in its own right.

Each strengthening exercise was repeated 15 times in 3 sets twice

Each strengthening exercise was repeated 15 times in 3 sets twice daily for 8 weeks and then once daily for 4 weeks. The stretch was Obeticholic Acid concentration completed for 30 to 60 seconds and repeated 3 times twice daily. Training load was progressed using weights or elasticised bands. The control group exercise program consisted of 6 non-specific movement exercises for the neck and

shoulder (e.g. neck retraction, shoulder abduction). The control group exercises were not loaded or progressed and were completed 10 times 3 times daily. Outcome measures: The primary outcome was the Constant shoulder score at 3 months. The Constant score is scored from 0 to 100 with a higher score indicating better function. Secondary

outcome measures included the disability of the arm, shoulder and hand questionnaire (DASH), Romidepsin concentration a visual analogue score for pain, the EuroQol quality of life instrument, and whether the participant thought they still needed surgery. Results: 97 participants completed the study. At 3 months, the change in Constant score was significantly more in the specific exercise group than the control group by 15 (95% CI 8.5 to 20.6) points. The DASH improved significantly more in the intervention than the control group by 8 (95% CI 2.3 to 13.7) points. The intervention group also improved significantly more than the control group in ratings of night pain, and quality of life. A lower proportion of the specific exercise group subsequently chose surgery (20% v 63%, Number Needed to Treat 3, 95% CI 1.6 to 3.9). Conclusion: A specific, progressive exercise program focusing on training the rotator cuff and scapular stabilisers was effective in improving function, reducing pain and reducing the need of surgery for patients with chronic subacromial impingement syndrome. [Numbers needed to treat and 95% CIs calculated by the CAP Editor.] Controversy persists regarding the pathoaetiology

and even existence of subacromial impingement syndrome (Lewis 2011). Exercise L-NAME HCl has been shown to achieve comparable results to injection therapy and surgery in the treatment of shoulder pain syndrome, at substantially reduced economic burden when compared with the latter. Combined injection and exercise therapy has not been shown to achieve better results than exercise alone at 12 weeks (Crawshaw et al 2010); and injection therapy and exercise therapy achieved comparable results at 6 months (Hay et al 2003). This study provides further evidence for the benefit of exercise, with a specific program conferring enhanced clinical benefit. The authors are to be commended for their insightful contribution to the body of knowledge required to treat shoulder pain effectively. However consideration needs to given to issues pertaining to the study design.


“One purpose of Journal of Physiotherapy is to publish hig


“One purpose of Journal of Physiotherapy is to publish high quality research that can help to guide the clinical practice of physiotherapy. A research design producing results that provide an important guide for clinicians is the systematic review, because it summarises the results of multiple randomised trials into one document selleck ( Egger et al 2001). A well validated measure of the quality of systematic reviews is the Overview Quality Assessment Questionnaire ( Oxman and Guyatt,

1991, Oxman, 1994, Moseley et al 2009). This scale rates systematic reviews from 1 (extensive flaws) to 7 (minimal flaws). The Overview Quality Assessment Questionnaire has recently been used to assess the quality of 200 systematic reviews in physiotherapy (Moseley et al 2009). It is therefore timely to consider the quality of reviews in Journal of Physiotherapy against those in physiotherapy generally. Moseley and colleagues (2009) noted that the quality of systematic reviews improves gradually with time, so we analysed

recent reviews. In the Moseley (2009) assessment, 110 physiotherapy systematic reviews published over the last 5 years scored 3.8 out of 7 (SD 1.7). This was 1.5 points (95% CI, 0.4 to 2.7) this website lower than the systematic reviews published in the then Australian Journal of Physiotherapy over the same period which scored 5.3 (SD 1.3). Overview Quality Assessment Questionnaire scores reflect the complementary processes of ensuring careful design of the review by its authors and complete reporting of important

design features by authors, reviewers and editors (Shea et al 2001). To assist with the latter, we have been using the Quality of Reporting of Meta-analyses (QUOROM) statement (Moher et al 1994). This has recently been superseded by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) statement (Moher et al 2009). Although the documents contain checklists with fundamentally similar sets of items, the PRISMA STK38 checklist contains some important new items. We have therefore adopted the new PRISMA statement. However, readers may not notice a major change because we have been reporting several of the new items on the PRISMA checklist for some time. For example, in our recent systematic reviews, we have been using a structured abstract to ensure key items are presented (eg, Bleakley et al 2008) and including a statement about funding received (eg, Scianni et al 2009). We have also been presenting the full electronic search strategy via the eAddenda (eg, Chien et al 2008) and the number of records identified through the electronic search versus the number identified through other sources (eg, Koppenhaver et al 2009). The PRISMA statement deals more comprehensively with systematic reviews that examine questions other than the clinical efficacy of an intervention, such as a review of strategies to increase the implementation of clinical guidelines (eg, van der Wees et al 2008).

Thus, the addition of Bexsero® to an already busy vaccination sch

Thus, the addition of Bexsero® to an already busy vaccination schedule appears challenging, at least in the first 6 months of life, primarily due to widespread reluctance to administer three injections simultaneously and thus to administer Bexsero®

concomitantly buy Doxorubicin with currently recommended standard vaccines. Moreover, 90% of pediatricians who objected to three simultaneous injections believed that parents would also object to this. A recent review of mostly North American studies on provider and parental attitudes towards multiple injections [23] showed that provider acceptance of >2 injections increased when official recommendations required this. Providers also tended

to overestimate parental concern, and reassurance by physicians as well as an understanding of the severity of the target disease increased parental acceptance of multiple injections. While parental objection to >2 injections per visit was also reported in a recent study from The Netherlands [24], with a majority of parents preferring an extra visit, half said they would probably accept three vaccinations if actually offered. Similarly, the Australian survey showed that a third injection per visit made only 15% of parents less likely to want MenB vaccine for their child [15]. However, none of the studies, including the latter, explicitly investigated whether JQ1 parental acceptance for concomitant

vaccination would be affected by the information that concomitant vaccination was shown to be more reactogenic than alternating injections. Taken Thymidine kinase together, our results suggest that if STIKO should recommend MenB vaccination for infants from 2 months of age on completion of the evidence assessment, it would be essential to provide pediatricians with a convincing rationale and strong arguments for concomitant vaccination, to ensure successful implementation and to avoid the dropping of other equally or even more important vaccinations by physicians or parents. This should include evidence suggesting that parents can be convinced to accept three simultaneous injections by their physicians. Since MenB incidence is highest in the first year of life, with about half of cases occurring <6 months of age, early vaccination would prevent the most cases. Nonetheless, in Germany 59% of cases in the first 3 years of life occur in children aged 9 months and older, the age-span in which protection would be expected using the later 3-dose schedule. An additional 21% of cases in children <3 years of age occur in children from 5 to 8 months of age (unpublished data, Robert Koch Institute), potentially preventable through earlier vaccination.