First published February 2012, doi: 10.1128/JCM.06835-11
Jianwei Zhou1,
Brigitte Lefebvre2,
Saul Deng1,
Rodica Gilca3,4,
Genevieve Deceuninck3,4,
Dennis K.S. Law1,
Philipe De Wals3,4 and
Raymond S.W. Tsang1↴
+ Author Affiliations
1Vaccine Preventable Bacterial Diseases, National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg, Manitoba
2Laboratorie de Sant? Publique du Qu?bec, Institut national de sant? publique du Qu?bec, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Qu?bec
3Institut national de sant? publique du Qu?bec, Centre de recherche du CHUL-CHUO
4Department de medicine social et preventive de I'Universit? Laval, Qu?bec, Qu?bec, Canada
ABSTRACT
In the post meningococcal serogroup C conjugate vaccine era from January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2010, serogroup B meningococci were the major causes of invasive meningococcal disease in the province of Qu?bec, Canada, responsible for 72% of all the meningococcal disease cases. Of the 334 invasive serogroup B Neisseria meningitidis strains analysed, 53.9% belonged to the ST-269 clonal complex (cc). Since it first emerged in 2003, the percent of invasive serogroup B isolates that belonged to the ST-269 cc had increased from 35% in 2003 to 76% in 2010. Among the 180 meningococci in the ST-269 cc, 91.7% belonged to a single ST (ST-269). The most common PorA genotypes identified in the ST-269 cc were VR1=19-1, VR2=15-11, VR3=36 (84%) and VR1=18-7, VR2=9, VR3=35-1 (9%). Invasive disease cases due to ST-269 cc were commonly found in those aged 11?19 (30.5%), and 20?40 years (25.5%). Meningococci of the ST-269 cc were uncommon in other Canadian provinces. In contrast to the ST-269 cc, invasive serogroup B meningococci that belonged to the ST-41/44 cc were much more diverse genetically. However, one ST (ST-571) uncommon in the U.S. accounted for 35% of all cases due to this cc. The current finding suggests that the ST-269 clone may indeed represent an emerging hypervirulent clone of meningococci.
Copyright ? 2012, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
