title: MLEE and PFGE characterization of Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C and B isolated in the Slovak Republic in 1998.
abstract: In the Slovak Republic the incidence and mortality of invasive meningococcal disease increased after 1995 when the new meningococcal clone of Neisseria meningitidis C:2a:P1.2,P1.5, ET-1.5/37 emerged. The new clone spread between 1995 and 1998 throughout the whole country. Morbidity of invasive meningococcal disease was 1.6/100,000 of the population and fatality reached the highest level of 23% in the Slovak Republic in 1998. The new clone caused a new emergent epidemiological and clinical situation. The occurrence of invasive meningococcal disease caused by this clone has continually risen since 1995. In 1998 72% of all diseases in Slovakia were caused by serogroup C. The emerging clone C:2a:Pl.2,P1.5 represented 74% of the serogroup C isolates. Clonality and genetic diversity of 15 selected meningococcal strains causing invasive meningococcal disease was compared by multilocus enzyme electrophoresis (MLEE) and DNA macrorestriction analysis by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). The strains of serogroup C and B were isolated in all regions of Slovakia in 1998. The majority of isolates belong to hypervirulent clone ET-15 as determined by MLEE. By PFGE a higher degree of diversity was observed.
authors.affiliation: National Reference Laboratory for Meningococcal Infections of the Slovak Republic, State Institute of Public Health, Bratislava, Slovak Republic.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Karelová
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Krízová
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Musílek
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008589:Meningococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D008828:Microbiological Techniques; D008875:Middle Aged; D009345:Neisseria meningitidis / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D018154:Slovakia