Neisseria meningitidis Sequence Type and Risk for Death, Iceland

Invasive meningococcal infections are hyperendemic in Iceland, a relatively isolated country in the mid-Atlantic. We performed a nationwide study on all viable meningococcal strains (N = 362) from 1977 to 2004. We analyzed the association of patient's age and sex, meningococcal serogroups, and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Emerging Infectious Diseases
Main Authors: Magnús Gottfreðsson, Mathew A. Diggle, David I. Lawrie, Helga Erlendsdóttir, Hjördís Harðardóttir, Karl G. Kristinsson, Stuart C. Clarke
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2006
Subjects:
Neisseria meningitidis
multilocus sequence typing (MLST)
meningococcal disease
meningitis
epidemiology
mortality
Medicine
R
Infectious and parasitic diseases
RC109-216
Iceland
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3201/eid1207.051624
https://doaj.org/article/d25e56ab447c4f6a9c58a12493ed5440
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Summary:Invasive meningococcal infections are hyperendemic in Iceland, a relatively isolated country in the mid-Atlantic. We performed a nationwide study on all viable meningococcal strains (N = 362) from 1977 to 2004. We analyzed the association of patient's age and sex, meningococcal serogroups, and sequence types (STs) with outcomes. Overall, 59 different STs were identified, 19 of which were unique to Iceland. The most common STs were 32 (24.6%), 11 (19.9%), and 10 (10.2%). The unique ST-3492 ranked fourth (7.7%). The most common serogroups were B (56.4%), C (39.8%), and A (2.2%). Age (p<0.001) and infection with a unique ST (p = 0.011) were independently associated with increased death rates, whereas isolation of meningococci from cerebrospinal fluid only was associated with lower death rates (p = 0.046). This study shows evolutionary trends of meningococcal isolates in a relatively isolated community and highlights an association between unique STs and poor outcome.

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