Dissemination of the ST-103 clonal complex serogroup C meningococci in Salvador, Brazil

Publication date: Available online 27 September 2017
Source:Microbes and Infection
Author(s): Soraia Machado Cordeiro, Cristiane Wanderley Cardoso, Lorena Galvão de Araújo, Luis Eduardo Ribeiro, Jailton Azevedo, Rita de Cassia Vilasboas Silva, Mitermayer Galvão Reis, Albert Ickzang Ko, Joice Neves Reis
Invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) is a major public health problem worldwide. An epidemic of serogroup C (NmC) IMD occurred in 2010 in the city of Salvador. In this study, we describe the antigenic and genetic characterization of meningococcal isolates collected from meningitis cases in Salvador from 2001 to 2012. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) were performed for the analysis of IMD isolates. A total of 733 cases were identified, and the serogroup was determined for 391 (53.0%) of these. Most cases were caused by NmC (53%) or B (47%). The most prevalent strains were B:4,7:P1.19,15 (32.9%; 129/391) and C:23:P1.14-6 (28.6%; 112/391). Based on PFGE/MLST analysis, 71.3% (77/108 PFGE-tested isolates) clustered as two clones of sequence type ST- 3779 and ST-3780, both belonging to the ST-103 clonal complex. ST-3779 has been detected in Salvador since 1996 and together with ST-3780 became predominant after 2005. There was a predominance of C:23:P1.14-6, ST-3779/3780 in Salvador during the period of 2007–2012, establishing a major clonal lineage, which remained in the community for a long time; this has serious implications for public health, particularly in terms of prevention and control strategies of IMD.



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