The epidemiology of Neisseria meningitidis is dynamic, with risk of meningococcal disease varying widely by region and depending on a confluence of host, organism, and environmental factors. Because transmission of N meningitidis results mainly in asymptomatic carriage, evaluation of oropharyngeal carriage can be helpful to understand the epidemiology and transmission of N meningitidis and, in ...

Neisseria meningitidis is the agent of invasive meningococcal disease, including cerebral meningitis and septicemia. Because the diseases caused by different clonal groups (sequence types) have their own epidemiological characteristics, it is important to understand the differences among the genomes of the N. meningitidis clonal groups. To this end, a novel interpretation of a structural dot pl...

AIM To estimate the pharyngeal carriage rate of Neisseria meningitidis (N. meningitidis), Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) among Australian Hajj pilgrims. METHODS In 2014, surveillance was conducted in two phases among Australian Hajj pilgrims: The first phase during Hajj in Mina, and the second phase soon after returning home to Australia. Nasoph...

Occupationally acquired meningococcal disease is rare. Adherence to recommendations for safe handling of Neisseria meningitidis in the laboratory greatly reduces the risk for transmission to laboratory workers. A California microbiologist developed fatal serogroup B meningococcal disease after working with N. meningitidis patient isolates in a research laboratory (laboratory A). The California ...

In 2011, Chile experienced an increase in the number of cases of IMD caused by Neisseria meningitidis group W. This epidemiological scenario prompted authorities to implement prevention strategies. As part of these strategies, the Institute of Public Heath of Chile conducted a cross-sectional study to determine the prevalence of pharyngeal carriage of N. meningitidis in a representative sample ...

The penicillin-binding protein 2 genes (penA) of penicillin-resistant Neisseria meningitidis have a mosaic structure that has arisen by the introduction of regions from the penA genes of Neisseria flavescens or Neisseria cinerea. Chromosomal DNA from both N. cinerea and N. flavescens could transform a penicillin-susceptible isolate of N. meningitidis to increased resistance to penicillin. With ...

neisseria meningitidis is a major causative agent of bacterial septicemia and meningitis in humans. currently, there are no vaccines to prevent disease caused by strains of n.meningitidis serogroup b. the class 1 outer membrane protein (omp) has been named pora which is a cation selective transmembrane protein of 45 kda that forms trimeric pore in the meningococcal outer membrane. pora from ser...

We read with interest the report by Cunningham and colleagues (1) regarding the inability of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization–time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDITOF MS) to differentiate Neisseria meningitidis from Neisseria polysaccharea. As highlighted in the article, these two neisseriae are also difficult to distinguish by biochemical methods. Key reactions that might be used ...

One potential vaccine strategy in the fight against meningococcal disease involves the exploitation of outer-membrane components of Neisseria lactamica, a commensal bacterium closely related to the meningococcus, Neisseria meningitidis. Although N. lactamica shares many surface structures with the meningococcus, little is known about the antigenic diversity of this commensal bacterium or the an...

Neisseria meningitidis is a leading cause of pyogenic meningitis worldwide, as well as causing large epidemics in parts of Africa. With the dramatic decline in cases of Haemophilus in uenzae B, N. meningitidis has emerged as one of the most common causes of acute bacterial meningitis in children and adults in South Africa. However, it remains an uncommon cause of meningitis in the neonatal peri...