Emergence of New Virulent Neisseria meningitidis Serogroup C Sequence Type 11 Isolates in France.

Ala-Eddine Deghmane (1, 2) , Isabelle Parent Du Châtelet (3) , Marek Szatanik (1, 2) , Eva Hong (1, 2) , Corinne Ruckly (2, 1) , Dario Giorgini (2, 1) , Daniel Lévy-Bruhl (3, 4) , Jean-Michel Alonso (2, 1) , Muhamed-Kheir Taha (1, 2)

1 CNR - Centre National de Référence des Méningocoques et Haemophilus influenzae - National Reference Center Meningococci and Haemophilus influenzae
2 Neisseria
3 INVS - Institut de Veille Sanitaire
4 Infections Bactériennes Invasives

In France, there have been variations in the incidence of invasive meningococcal infection due to serogroup C isolates. Infection peaks were observed in 1992 and 2003 that involved isolates of phenotypes C:2a:P1.5,2 and/or C:2a:P1.5, which belong to the sequence type 11 (ST-11) clonal complex. We report an emergence of isolates belonging to the ST-11 clonal complex since 2003. These isolates displayed a new phenotype, C:2a:P1.7,1, caused infections that occurred as clusters, and were associated with increased infection severity and high virulence in mice. These isolates may be responsible for a peak in the incidence of serogroup C meningococcal infection in France, for which there is no routine vaccination to date.

Domaines: Santé publique et épidémiologie; Bactériologie

Ala-Eddine Deghmane, Isabelle Parent Du Châtelet, Marek Szatanik, Eva Hong, Corinne Ruckly, et al.. Emergence of New Virulent Neisseria meningitidis Serogroup C Sequence Type 11 Isolates in France.. Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2010, 202 (2), pp.247-250. ⟨10.1086/653583⟩. ⟨pasteur-02085474⟩