Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T21:34:47.868Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Transmission of Neisseria meningitidis among asymptomatic military recruits and antibody analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2009

D. A. Caugant ,
E. A. Høiby ,
E. Rosenqvist ,
L. O. Frøholm  and
R. K. Selander
D. A. Caugant*
Affiliation:
Departments of Bacteriology, Oslo
E. A. Høiby
Affiliation:
Departments of Bacteriology, Oslo
E. Rosenqvist
Affiliation:
Vaccine, National Institute of Public Health, Oslo
L. O. Frøholm
Affiliation:
Departments of Bacteriology, Oslo
R. K. Selander
Affiliation:
Institute of Evolutionary Genetics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
*
*Dominique A. Caugant, Department of Bacteriology, National Institute of Public Health, Geitmyrsveien 75, N-0462 Oslo 4, Norway
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Following the occurrence of a case of systemic meningococcal disease in a military camp in Norway, throat cultures and blood samples were collected from 33 healthy individuals belonging to the same troop as the patient (troop A) and from 29 individuals from a different troop (troop B) in the same camp. Serological studies showed that 91% of the recruits had bactericidal antibodies against the disease-causing strain. The isolates of Neisseria meningitidis recovered from the throat cultures were serogrouped, serotyped, and assigned to a clone on the basis of an analysis of the electrophoretic mobilities of 14 metabolic enzymes. None of the 23 carriers in troop A harboured the clone responsible for the case of disease, but 6 carried isolates of the same electrophoretic type, ET-7, which was not identified in any of the 19 carriers of troop B. Individuals in troop A were resampled 2 and 17 weeks after the meningococcal disease episode. Five of the carriers had acquired different clones and one of them changed clone twice in that period. Four of the six newly acquired clones had previously been identified in other carriers of troop A, demonstrating transmission of clones among individuals living and working in close proximity.

Type
Research Article
Information
Epidemiology & Infection , Volume 109 , Issue 2 , October 1992 , pp. 241 - 253
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

References

REFERENCES

1.Griffiss, JM. Epidemic meningococcal disease: synthesis of a hypothetical immunoepidemiological model. Rev Infect Dis 1982; 4: 159–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2.Broome, CV. The carrier state: Neisseria meningitidis. J Antimicrob Chemother 1986; 18 (suppl. A): 25–34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3.Cartwright, KAV, Stuart, JM, Jones, DM, Noah, ND. The Stonehouse survey: nasopharyngeal carriage of meningococci and Neisseria lactamica. Epidemiol Infect 1987; 99: 591–601.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4.DeWals, P, Gilquin, C, DeMaeyer, S, et al. Longitudinal study of asymptomatic carriage in two Belgian populations of school-children. J Infect 1983; 6: 147–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5.Olcén, P, Kjellander, J, Danielsson, D, Lindquist, BL. Epidemiology of Neisseria meningitidis: prevalence and symptoms from the upper respiratory tract in family members to patients with meningococcal disease. Scand J Infect Dis 1981; 13: 105–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6.Stuart, JM, Cartwright, KAV, Robinson, PM, Noah, ND. Effect of smoking on meningococcal carriage. Lancet 1989; ii: 723–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7.Beam, WE Jr, Newberg, NR, Devine, LF, Pierce, WE, Davies, JA. The effect of rifampin on the nasopharyngeal carriage of Neisseria meningitidis in a military population. J Infect Dis 1971; 124: 39–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8.Brundage, JF, Zollinger, WD. Evolution of meningococcal disease epidemiology in the US army. In: Vedros, NA, ed. Evolution of meningococcal disease. vol. I. Boca Raton: CRC Press Inc, 1987: 5–25.Google Scholar
9.Holten, E, Vaage, L. Carriers of meningococci among Norwegian naval recruits. Scand J Infect Dis 1971; 3: 135–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10.Caugant, DA, Bøvre, K, Gaustad, P, et al. Multilocus genotypes determined by enzyme electrophoresis of Neisseria meningitidis isolated from patients with systemic disease and from healthy carriers. J Gen Microbiol 1986; 132: 641–52.Google ScholarPubMed
11.Sandven, P, Solberg, O, Ødegaard, K, Myhre, G. Improved medium for the transportation of gonococcal specimens. Acta Path Microbiol Immunol Scand 1982; 90 (sect. B): 73–7.Google ScholarPubMed
12.Selander, RK, Caugant, DA, Ochman, H, Musser, JM, Gilmour, MN, Whittam, TS. Methods of multilocus enzyme electrophoresis for bacterial population genetics and systematics. Appl Environ Microbiol 1986; 51: 873–84.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13.Caugant, DA, Mocca, LF, Frasch, CE, Frøholm, LO, Zollinger, WD, Selander, RK. Genetic structure of Neisseria meningitidis populations in relation to serogroup, serotype, and outer membrane protein pattern. J Bacteriol 1987; 169: 2781–92.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14.Caugant, DA, Frøholm, LO, Bøvre, K, et al. Intercontinental spread of a genetically distinctive complex of clones of Neisseria meningitidis causing epidemic disease. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1986; 83: 4927–31.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15.Sneath, PHA, Sokal, RR. Numerical taxonomy: the principles and practice of numerical classification. San Francisco: Freeman WH & Co., 1973.Google Scholar
16.Wedege, E, Høiby, EA, Rosenqvist, E, Frøholm, LO. Serotyping and subtyping of Neisseria meningitidis isolates by coagglutination, dot-blotting and ELISA. J Med Microbiol 1990; 31: 195–201.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
17.Harthug, S, Rosenqvist, E, Høiby, EA, Gedde-Dahl, TW, Frøholm, LO. Antibody response in group B meningococcal disease determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with serotype 15 outer membrane antigen. J Clin Microbiol 1986; 24: 947–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18.Rodbard, D, McClean, SW. Automated computer analysis for enzyme-multiplied immunological techniques. Clin Chem 1977; 23: 112–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
19.Høiby, EA, Rosenqvist, E, Frøholm, LO, et al. Bactericidal antibodies after vaccination with the Norwegian meningococcal serogroup B outer membrane vesicle vaccine: a brief survey. NIPH Ann (Oslo) 1991; 14: 147–56.Google ScholarPubMed
20.Stuart, JM, Cartwright, KAV, Robinson, PM, Noah, ND. Does eradication of meningococcal carriage in household contacts prevent secondary cases of meningococcal disease? Br Med J 1989; 298: 569–70.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
21.Cartwright, KAV, Stuart, JM, Robinson, PM. Meningococcal carriage in close contacts of cases. Epidemiol Infect 1991; 106: 133–41.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
22.Cooke, RPD, Riordan, T, Jones, DM, Painter, MJ. Secondary cases of meningococcal infection among close family and household contacts in England and Wales, 1984–7. Br Med J 1989; 298: 555–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
23.Caugant, DA, Kristiansen, B-E, Frøholm, LO, Bøvre, K, Selander, RK. Clonal diversity of Neisseria meningitidis from a population of asymptomatic carriers. Infect Immun 1988; 56: 2060–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
24.Pether, JVS, Lightfoot, NF, Scott, RJD, Morgan, J, Steele-Perkins, AP, Sheard, SC. Carriage of Neisseria meningitidis: investigations in a military establishment. Epidemiol Infect 1988; 101: 21–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
25.Høiby, EA, Rosenqvist, E, Bjune, G, Closs, O, Frøholm, LO. Serological responses in Norwegian adult volunteers to a meningococcal 15: P1.16 outer membrane vesicle vaccine (Phase II studies). In: Achtman, M, Kohl, P, Marchal, C, Morelli, G, Seiler, A, Thiesen, B, eds. Neisseriae 1990. Berlin: W de Gruyter. 1991: 241–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
26.Rosenqvist, E, Harthug, S, Frøholm, LO, Høiby, EA, Bøvre, K, Zollinger, WD. Antibody responses to serogroup B meningococcal outer membrane antigens after vaccination and infection. J Clin Microbiol 1988; 26: 1543–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
27.Rosenqvist, E, Høiby, EA, Bjune, G, et al. Human antibody responses after vaccination with the Norwegian group B meningococcal outer membrane vesicle vaccine: results from ELISA studies. NIPH Ann (Oslo) 1991; 14: 169–81.Google Scholar