meningococcal group W-135 polysaccharide-tetanus toxoid conjugate vaccine

The meningococcal group W-135 polysaccharide-tetanus toxoid conjugate vaccine is a specialized biologic developed by the Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu (RIVM) to prevent invasive meningococcal disease caused by *Neisseria meningitidis* serogroup W-135. The vaccine consists of the purified capsular polysaccharide of the W-135 serogroup covalently linked to a tetanus toxoid carrier protein. This conjugation process is critical as it converts the polysaccharide from a T-cell independent antigen into a T-cell dependent one, thereby significantly enhancing immunogenicity in infants and young children and inducing long-term immunological memory. This specific formulation was developed and utilized in the Netherlands, particularly in response to the epidemiological shift and rise in serogroup W cases observed in the mid-2010s.

Other names

Meningococcal W-135 conjugate vaccineMenW conjugate vaccine