Capsular Switching in InvasiveNeisseria meningitidis, Brazil1

Abstract

During the 1990s, an epidemic of B:4 Neisseria meningitidis infections affected Brazil. Subsequent increase in C:4 disease suggested B→C capsular switching. This study identified B→C switches within the sequence type 32 complex. Substantial disease related to capsular switching emphasizes the need for surveillance of circulating meningococcal strains to optimize disease control.

Controlling serogroup B invasive meningococcal disease: the Canadian perspective

“…When vaccines targeting some, but not all, capsular serogroups of meningococcci are used in a population, the vaccine-induced immunity may theoretically impose a selection pressure on the meningococcal population, potentially favoring capsule switching [25][26][27] and replacement [28,29]. Capsule switching occurs when vaccine strains (i.e., strains with capsule types included in the vaccine) acquire alternate capsular poly saccharide synthesis genes from nonvaccine strains (i.e., strains with capsule types not found in the vaccine) to become resistant to vaccine-induced host immunity.…”

Sequence Type 4821 Clonal Complex Serogroup BNeisseria meningitidisin China, 1978–2013

“…However, in several countries, the introduction of vaccines targeting specific serogroups may have led to the replacement of vaccine serogroups by other, nonvaccine, serogroups ( 7 – 11 ). Serogroup replacement can occur as a result of capsule switching ( 3 , 8 , 12 – 19 ) or as a result of importation of a serogroup meningococcus from other regions ( 20 ).…”

Características clínicas y factores pronósticos de la enfermedad meningocóccica: un estudio de serie de casos en Chile durante el brote 2012-2013

“…De esta forma, el año 2000 surgió una cepa virulenta de N. meningitidis serogrupo W, serotipo que si bien no había presentado anteriormente una amenaza grave, causó el gran brote entre los peregrinos del Hajj. El examen genético mostró que una cepa hipervirulenta del serogrupo C había adquirido los genes para la cápsula W a través de la recombinación 25,28,29 . Luego, el 2002, el clon del W del Hajj provocó una epidemia de meningitis en Burkina Faso y, en 2008, el mismo clon causó una gran proporción de la enfermedad en lactantes en Buenos Aires, Argentina 25 .…”