J Korean Med Sci.  2017 Jul;32(7):1111-1117. 10.3346/jkms.2017.32.7.1111.

Characterization of Oropharyngeal Carriage Isolates of Neisseria meningitidis in Healthy Korean Adolescents in 2015

• Kim HW
• Lee S
• Kwon D
• Cha J
• Ahn JG
• Kim KH

• KMID: 2379605
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2017.32.7.1111

Abstract

The meningococcus carriage rate is age-dependent, with a high prevalence in adolescents and young adults. This cross-sectional study aimed to estimate the oropharyngeal carriage rate of meningococcus among healthy Korean adolescents and its relationship with several population characteristics. The survey was conducted from April to May 2015 among 1,460 first-year high-school students in 9 high schools located in Gyeonggi province, Korea. Each student answered a short questionnaire assessing risk factors for carriage, and posterior pharyngeal wall swab samples were obtained. These samples were cultured on meningococcus-selective media, with colonies resembling meningococci identified using the Vitek® MS system (bioMérieux, Marcy l'Etoile, France). All isolates were characterized by molecular serogrouping and multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Meningococci were identified from 3.4% (49/1,460) swabs. Current smokers had significantly higher carriage rates than non-smokers (8.2% vs. 2.9%, P = 0.002), and boys had significantly higher carriage rates than girls (4.4% vs. 1.6%, P = 0.004). Serogroup B was the most common serogroup, followed by serogroup C, then 29E and Y. Twenty-seven different sequence types (STs) were identified; the most common were ST-3091, ST-11278, and ST-44. These belonged to clonal complexes (CCs) 269, 32, and 41/44, respectively, known as the hypervirulent clones. Evaluating meningococcal carriage is important to understand the epidemiology of meningococcal disease; however, little data exist in Korea. Similar to western countries, meningococcal serogroup B has emerged in Korea, and hypervirulent clones were identified. It is necessary to monitor the genetic and serologic characteristics of circulating meningococci and to assess the potential strain coverage of meningococcal vaccines.

Keyword

Neisseria meningitidis; Carrier State; Adolescents; Serogroup B

MeSH Terms

Adolescent*
Carrier State
Clone Cells
Cross-Sectional Studies
Epidemiology
Female
Gyeonggi-do
Humans
Korea
Meningococcal Vaccines
Multilocus Sequence Typing
Neisseria meningitidis*
Neisseria*
Population Characteristics
Prevalence
Risk Factors
Serogroup
Young Adult
Meningococcal Vaccines

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Association between serogroups and CCs of meningococcal isolates identified in healthy Korean adolescents. The different colors of the bars correspond to different serogroups as determined by PCR. STs are shown on bars of CCs. CC = clonal complex, PCR = polymerase chain reaction, ST = sequence type, NG = non-groupable. *The asterisk indicates hypervirulent clones.

• 

  Fig. 2 Single locus variant eBURST network of the 49 meningococcal carriage strains. The circle sizes correlate with the number of strains of each ST. Single locus variants are connected by lines. The serogroup of each ST is shown within parentheses. eBURST = electronic Based Upon Related Sequence Types, ST = sequence type, CC = clonal complex, NG = non-groupable.

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