Meningococcal disease in South Australia: incidence and serogroup distribution 1971–1980

Abstract

SUMMARYDuring the ten-year period 1971-80 isolates of meningococci from 85 cases of meningococcal disease (MD) in South Australia, from 66 children, 6 adolescents and 13 adults, were examined. These comprised 69 cases of meningitis and 16 cases of bacteraemia without meningitis. Thirty-three (39 %) of all cases of MD occurred in children less than 1 year of age, the median age was 19 months. Serogroup B accounted for 61 (72%) cases of MD, group A seven (8%), group C seven (8%), group W135 five (6%), group Y three (4 %) and group X one (1 %); in addition there was a single case of Neisseria lactamica infection.The annual prevalence of MD in South Australia for the period was 11 cases per 100000 for children under the age of 2 years and 0-7 cases per 100000 overall. The prevalence was highest in winter (45 % cases) and spring (26%) and lowest in summer (13 %). The overall mortality rate was 8 %. Four of the 21 infants under the age of 6 months died (mortality rate 19 %) whereas none ofthe 32 children aged from 6 months to 14 years died (P = 0 02). Amongst the survivors, three children had deafness, which was bilateral and severe in two.

Outbreak of W135 Meningococcal Disease in 2000: Not Emergence of a New W135 Strain but Clonal Expansion within the Electophoretic Type–37 Complex

“…Neisseria meningitidis serogroup W135 (MenW135) is associated with 1%-8% of all cases of sporadic meningococcal disease worldwide [1][2][3][4][5][6], and the proportion of healthy carriers in the general population ranges from ,1% to 10% [7,8]. MenW135 is generally considered to have low potential to cause invasive disease or outbreaks; only a few clusters, each of ,10 cases, have been reported to date [9].…”

Genetic Basis for Biosynthesis of the(α1→4)-Linked N -Acetyl- d -Glucosamine 1-Phosphate Capsuleof Neisseria meningitidis SerogroupX

“…Sporadic cases of meningococcal disease caused by serogroup X meningococci have been reported in both industrialized countries (15,18,28,34) and African countries (11,31). However, recently, large serogroup X meningitis outbreaks in Niger (5,10) and Ghana (13) have been reported.…”

Prospective Study of a Serogroup XNeisseria meningitidisOutbreak in Northern Ghana

“…Serogroup C meningococci also cause disease outbreaks and occasionally epidemics [7,8]. Endemic disease usually is caused by meningococci belonging to serogroup B or C, but occasionally disease is caused by bacteria in other serogroups, including W135, Y, and X. N. meningitidis serogroup X was described in the 1960s [9,10], and a limited number of serogroup X meningococcal disease cases have been reported in North America [11], Europe [12,13], Australia [14], and Africa [15,16]. Some have been associated with complement deficiencies [17,18] or AIDS [19].…”