title: Rapid determination of outbreak-related strains of Neisseria meningitidis by repetitive element-based polymerase chain reaction genotyping.
abstract: Outbreaks of invasive disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis have increased in the United States in the 1990s. Repetitive element-based polymerase chain reaction (rep-PCR), a recently developed genotyping method, was used to evaluate a group of 8 outbreak-related and 35 other meningococcal isolates previously typed by multilocus enzyme electrophoresis (MLEE). All were serogroup B or C. Sets of genotypes were generated using primers based on either of two different repetitive sequences. Genotype sets were analyzed in a blinded fashion. Each set correctly identified outbreak-related isolates. Among the other 35 isolates, rep-PCR delineated 14 and 13 strains, respectively, in the two sets of genotypes. Seventeen electrophoretic types had been delineated by MLEE. Rep-PCR holds promise as a rapid, genome-based typing method for delineation of apparent outbreaks of meningococcal disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157, USA.
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Woods
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Koeuth
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Estabrook
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Lupski
mesh_terms: D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008585:Meningitis, Meningococcal / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D009345:Neisseria meningitidis / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012703:Serotyping