meningococcal group C conjugate

Meningococcal group C conjugate (MCC) vaccine is a biologic conjugate vaccine designed to prevent invasive meningococcal disease caused by *Neisseria meningitidis* serogroup C. The vaccine consists of the capsular polysaccharide (or oligosaccharide) of the serogroup C bacterium chemically linked (conjugated) to a carrier protein, such as CRM197 (a non-toxic mutant of diphtheria toxin) or tetanus toxoid. This conjugation converts the T-cell independent polysaccharide antigen into a T-cell dependent antigen, which significantly improves immunogenicity and induces long-term immunological memory, particularly in infants and young children who do not respond well to plain polysaccharide vaccines. First introduced in the United Kingdom in 1999, it has demonstrated high efficacy (>89%) and has been instrumental in reducing the incidence of serogroup C disease through both direct protection and the induction of herd immunity by reducing nasopharyngeal carriage of the bacteria.

Brand names

MeningitecMenjugateNeisVac-C

Other names

MCCMenC conjugateMeningococcal C conjugate vaccine