Is group-specific meningococcal vaccination resulting in epidemics caused by groups of virulent meningococci?
In 1976 routine vaccination against Neisseria meningitidis serogroups A and C was started in the Finnish Armed Forces. A case of fulminant, complicated pneumonia caused by group-Y meningococcus in a vaccinated recruit, prompted a study of the distribution of the meningococcal groups isolated from the recruits in the same unit. 14 (46%) of the 31 isolates from 84 recruits were group Y. Group-Y meningococcus was rarely isolated from unvaccinated controls. These results suggest that widespread vaccination against serogroups A and C may have led to an increase in the frequency of meningococcus group Y.
D001428:Bacterial Vaccines / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005387:Finland; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008589:Meningococcal Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D008887:Military Medicine; D009345:Neisseria meningitidis / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000150:complications / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D012703:Serotyping; D014774:Virulence
D001428:Bacterial Vaccines