In Brain Fever, the internationally renowned medical scientist, Richard Moxon FRS, shares his experiences about bacterial meningitis, a fearful and devastating infection of the brain. In a clear, non-technical style, he explains what meningitis is, what causes it, who gets it and how research has come up with vaccines that can prevent it.

A paediatrician, Moxon engages the reader in a compelling story of how chance, opportunity and passion drew him into researching the bacteria that are the dangerous assassins of unsuspecting, previously healthy people, especially young children. The reader is taken on an exciting journey from his boyhood dream to study medicine to adventurous experiences as a junior doctor in London, a ship’s surgeon and then a trainee in infectious diseases in Boston, USA. There he became hooked on a research career and in the subsequent four decades, first as a professor at Johns Hopkins and then at Oxford University, Moxon traces his personal involvement with an extraordinary, eclectic and inspiring group of scientists who pioneered a milestone in medical history: the development of vaccines to prevent bacterial meningitis.

The book provides insights into the complexities of what it takes to make a vaccine and the important role of medical scientists who are involved in both fundamental research and clinical practice. Brain Fever aims to provide an authoritative account of what everyone should know about meningitis, how research resulted in vaccines to prevent this fearful disease and why immunisation is the greatest intervention in the history of medicine.

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