title: Strain differentiation of Neisseria meningitidis by small-fragment restriction endonuclease analysis (SF-REA).
abstract: Following an outbreak involving 3 cases of serogroup B meningococcal disease in a rural part of Western Norway, 2 clinical and 99 carrier isolates of Neisseria meningitidis were examined by small-fragment restriction endonuclease analysis (SF-REA) using EcoRI, to determine its potential for strain differentiation. SF-REA characterized all isolates and provided reproducible results with acceptable inter-clonal differentiation. The results of SF-REA correlated well with those of serological typing and were used to determine clonal diversity and prevalence of invasive strains among the carrier isolates. SF-REA was also useful in demonstrating acquisition of a new carrier strain after eradication of the initial strain by ofloxacin. Thirty-one different restriction patterns/pattern complexes were recognized among the 101 isolates. The two clinical isolates had identical restriction patterns and showed > or = 90% similarity to those of six carrier isolates. In three out of six apparent treatment failures, successful eradication of the original strain by ofloxacin was demonstrated by SF-REA. SF-REA proved valuable in strain differentiation of Neisseria meningitidis, complemented serology, and characterized all isolates which could not be typified by serology.
authors.affiliation: Centre for International Health, University of Bergen, Norway.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mylvaganam
authors.forename: O H
authors.initials: OH
authors.lastname: Gilja
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Halstensen
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Høiby
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Digranes
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bjorvatn
mesh_terms: D002353:Carrier State; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006801:Humans; D008589:Meningococcal Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D009345:Neisseria meningitidis / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D015242:Ofloxacin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000091402:Prohibitins; D012424:Rural Population; D012703:Serotyping
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; C000717331:PHB2 protein, human; D000091402:Prohibitins; D015242:Ofloxacin