evidence: Do Vaccines Cause Meningitis or Encephalitis/Encephalopathy? [...] In addition, very rare cases of measles inclusion body encephalitis (MIBE) have occurred following administration of measles-containing vaccines. Natural infections with Neisseria meningitidis (meningococcus), Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) can cause severe bacterial meningitis. Pneumococcal, Hib, and meningococcal vaccines protect against meningitis caused by these agents. The vaccines that protect against these infections do not cause meningitis; the vaccines are made from only the outer capsule and/or bacterial proteins so they cannot cause infections like the naturally occurring bacteria. [...] Ray, P., et al., Encephalopathy after whole-cell pertussis or measles vaccination: lack of evidence for a causal association in a retrospective case-control study. Pediatr Infect Dis J, 2006. 25(9): p. 768–73.