[Use of several parametric characteristics for study of epidemic features of meningococcal infection and bacterial meningitis].

UNLABELLED: Continuous surveillance for main indicators of epidemic process of meningococcal infection and etiology of bacterial meningitis. Epidemiologic surveillance was electronically-based and was performed on the basis of specially developed standardized case reporting form. Main parameters of epidemiologic surveillance included 10 indexes. Information on 18,519 cases was obtained from 47 regions of Russian Federation. Organization of personalized registry of patients with meningococcal infection and bacterial meningitis allowed to reveal etiologic structure of the disease, territorial differences in serogroup landscape of clinical isolates of meningococci, shortcomings in laboratory diagnostics as well as features of meningitis caused by pneumococci and Haemophilus influenzae type b. CONCLUSION: Necessity of continuous epidemiologic surveillance for meningococcal infection and bacterial meningitis with mandatory use of modern methods of laboratory diagnostics as well as organization of official registration system for meningitis caused by pneumococci and Haemophilus influenzae type b providing decrease of morbidity and development of vaccination tactics was substantiated.

[Monitoring for Neisseria meningitidis species using sequencing of variable fragments of surface proteins FetA and PorA genes].

AIM: To perform advanced antigenic characterization of meningococci belonging to serogroups A and B and circulating in Moscow according to modern nomenclature of Neisseria meningitidis strains. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Method of typing of "VR" fragment of FetA protein together with methods of genetic subtyping and multilocus sequence typing was used. RESULTS: Detailed information about studied strains was inputed in Internet database--http://pubmlst.org/neisseria/. Typing of serogroup B strains did not allow to define dominating variant of "VR, fragment of FetA protein which is in accordance with subtyping data obtained previously. Serogroup A strains were notable for less variability of "VR" fragment variants: 6 variants were detected. For the majority of serogroup A strains, it was possible to trace connection between belonging of the strain to particular genetic subgroup and its revealed antigenic profile. For strains from genetic subgroup VI, antigenic profile P1.5-2, 10; F1-5 detected in 14(18%) strains was typical, whereas antigenic profile P1.5-2, 10; F3-5 was typical for genetic subgroup X and was detected in 50 (63%) strains. Antigenic profile P1.5-2, 10-67; F3-5 was detected in 5 (6%) strains, and other 10 antigenic profiles were revealed in one strain each. CONCLUSION: Prevalence of strains with antigenic profile P1.5-2, 10; F3-5 is explained by change of predominant genetic subgroup from subgroup VI to subgroup X in Moscow population serogroup A meningococci observed after 2003.

[Genetic subgroups of Neisseria meningitidis serogroup A isolated from patients with disseminated forms of meningococcal infection in Moscow, 1969-2006].

Results of microbiological monitoring for serogroup A Neisseria meningitidis circulated in Moscow from 2002 to 2006 are presented. Using multilocus sequence-typing, molecular and epidemiologic characteristics of 32 cultures isolated from cerebro-spinal fluid of patients with generalized forms of meningococcal infection. Typed isolates belonged to 4 sequence types: CT-3349 (detected in 24 cultures), CT-2 (detected in 5 cultures), CT-75 (detected in 2 cultures), and CT-5803 (detected in 1 culture). All sequence types (except CT-5803) were detected in Moscow in previous years. Using Internet database (http://pubmlst.org/neisseria) they were genetically characterized and compared with data on serogroup A meningococci circulated in Moscow before 2002., meningococci belonging to epidemically dangerous genetic subgroup III were not detected between characterized strains. Typed isolates were distributed between subgroups VI and X, which are typical for the area under surveillance. Genetic changes in Moscow population of Neisseria meningitidis serogroup A, which manifested by shift of dominating genetic subgroup after 2002-2003, were analyzed.