Open AccessMeningococcal Carriage in Military Recruits and University Students during the Pre MenB Vaccination Era in Greece (2014-2015)
Author(s) -
Kyriaki Tryfinopoulou,
Κωνσταντίνος Κεσανόπουλος,
Athanasia Xirogianni,
Νεκτάριος Μαρμαράς,
Anastasia Papandreou,
Vassiliki Papaevangelou,
Μαρία Τσολιά,
Aftab Jasir,
Georgina Tzanakaki
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0167404
Subject(s) - carriage , multilocus sequence typing , neisseria meningitidis , vaccination , molecular epidemiology , meningococcal vaccine , epidemiology , meningococcal disease , medicine , genotype , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , virology , genetics , bacteria , gene , pathology
Purpose The aim of the study was to estimate the meningococcal carriage rate and to identify the genotypic characteristics of the strains isolated from healthy military recruits and university students in order to provide data that might increase our understanding on the epidemiology of meningococcus and obtain information which helps to evaluate the potential effects on control programs such as vaccination., Methods A total of 1420 oropharyngeal single swab samples were collected from military recruits and university students on voluntary basis, aged 18–26 years. New York City Medium was used for culture and the suspected N . meningitidis colonies were identified by Gram stain, oxidase and rapid carbohydrate utilization tests. Further characterisation was carried out by molecular methods (multiplex PCR, MLST, WGS). Results The overall carriage rate was of 12.7%; 15% and 10.4% for recruits and university students respectively. MenB (39.4%) was the most prevalent followed by MenY (12.8%) and MenW (4.4%). Among the initial 76 Non Groupable (NG) isolates, Whole Genome Sequence Analysis (WGS) revealed that 8.3% belonged to MenE, 3.3% to MenX and 1.1% to MenZ, while, 53 strains (29.4%) were finally identified as capsule null. Genetic diversity was found among the MenB isolates, with 41/44 cc and 35 cc predominating. Conclusion Meningococcal carriage rate in both groups was lower compared to our previous studies (25% and 18% respectively) with predominance of MenB isolates. These findings, help to further our understanding on the epidemiology of meningococcal disease in Greece. Although the prevalence of carriage seems to have declined compared to our earlier studies, the predominant MenB clonal complexes (including 41/44cc and 35cc) are associated with invasive meningococcal disease.