Meningococcal disease is an infectious disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis or meningococcus, which may present clinically as meningococcemia or meningitis, or presence of both features. Meningococcal meningitis causes inflammation of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. Meningococcal meningitis or meningococcemia is a life-threatening disease. It affects adults, adolescents and children as well. Every year more than 1.2 million people are affected by meningitis. It causes approximately 120,000 deaths globally each year. It can cause severe brain damage and is fatal in 50% of cases if untreated. According to a review article on meningococcal disease in Asia, results from four retrospective hospital-based studies conducted in Bangladesh showed that N. meningitidis present up to 35% of positive cultures in all ages, and up to 18% in children aged <2 years with bacterial meningitis. At the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research in Bangladesh, of 628 blood and CSF samples, N. meningitidis was detected in 24•8% (n=156), of which 97•7% were serogroup A and the rest 2.3% were serogroup B between 1999 and 2006. Of the 156 N. meningitidis isolates, 89 (57%) were from blood and 67 (43%) from CSF. Meningococcemia occurs without meningitis in 5% to 20% among the meningococcal infections. Globally the case-fatality ratio of meningococcemia is up to 40%.