Genetic and Antigenic Analysis of Invasive Serogroup Y Neisseria meningitidis Isolates Collected from 1999 to 2003 in Canada

Abstract

One hundred forty serogroup Y Neisseria meningitidis isolates recovered from patients with invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) in Canada from 1999 to 2003 were analyzed by genetic and serological methods. Seventy-four isolates (52.9%) belonged to serotype 2c, and most have serosubtype antigen P1.5,2 (37 isolates, 26%) or P1.5 (31 isolates, 22%). Forty-eight isolates (34.3%) belonged to serotype 14 and have serosubtype antigen P1.5,2 (13 isolates, 9%) or P1.5 (7 isolates, 5%) or were nonserosubtypeable (27 isolates, 19%). Thirteen isolates (9.3%) were nonserotypeable. Multilocus sequence typing identified two unrelated clonal populations of serogroup Y meningococci causing invasive disease in Canada: ST-23 and ST-167 clonal complexes. Almost all ST-167-related isolates were typed as 2c:P1.5, while strains of the ST-23 clonal complex were either serotype 14 or 2c but with the serosubtype antigen P1.5,2. In contrast to previous reports that patients with serogroup Y disease are usually older, 26% of the Canadian serogroup Y cases were found in the 10-to-19-year-old age group and another 11% were in the 20-to-39-year-old age group.

Serogroup Y Meningococcal Disease, Colombia

“…An increase in serogroup Y has also been reported in Chicago, Illinois, where one third of meningococcal disease cases are caused by this serogroup (9). A similar increase has been reported in Canada (10). Both the United States and Canada have investigated genetic similarity, and circulating clonal types have been determined (9,10).…”

“…A similar increase has been reported in Canada (10). Both the United States and Canada have investigated genetic similarity, and circulating clonal types have been determined (9,10). Similar molecular studies with Colombian isolates are under way in collaboration with the Carlos III Institute from Spain under PAHO coordination.…”

The changing epidemiology of meningococcal disease in North America 1945–2010

“…32 An ST-23 clone of serogroup Y accounted for much of serogroup Y disease at this time in both Canada and the USA. 33,34 During the 1990s in Canada, the incidence of both serogroup B and serogroup C disease fell (from ~0.4 per 100,000 population and 0.65 per 100,000 population respectively in 1993, to ~0.2 per 100,000 population and 0.1 per 100,000 population respectively in 1998) but remained the two most frequently observed causes of IMD. 21 By the end of the 1990s, serogroup C incidence had risen once again (to ~0.4 per 100,000 population in 2000; overall rate of disease was 0.78 per 100,000 in 2000), with the have been group W135, supporting an increase in prevalence of W135 disease during this period.…”

“…The increase in the prevalence of serogroup Y is attributed to the emergence of an ST-23 clone of serogroup Y which accounts for much of serogroup Y IMD in both Canada and the USA. 33,34 While the incidence of all serogroups has fallen in the USA in recent years, serogroup Y continues to be responsible for approximately a third of endemic disease cases. In both the USA and Canada, serogroup A was a major cause of disease historically, but is now rare.…”

Genotypic Comparison of Invasive Neisseria meningitidis Serogroup Y Isolates from the United States, South Africa, and Israel, Isolated from 1999 through 2002

“…In fact, a study of disease-associated and carriage isolates of N. meningitidis collected in The Czech Republic, Greece, and Norway from 1991 to 2000 found a negative association of ST-23 with disease (22). More recent studies, however, have documented the isolation of NmY isolates of the ST-23 complex from patients with invasive meningococcal disease in Taiwan, Canada, and Italy (4,6,18). The proportion of meningococcal disease caused by NmY in Taiwan and Italy, however, remains below 10%.…”