Meningococcal disease in Malawi: studies on the genetic relatedness of the bacteria

Typing and susceptibility to penicillin of Neisseria meningitidis isolated from patients in Cuba (1993-1999)

The susceptibility to penicillin of 111 Neisseria meningitidis strains was assessed by the agar-dilution procedure and serosubtypes were determined by a whole-cell enzyme-linked immunoassay using monoclonal antibodies reagents. Thirty-five isolates showed reduced sensitivity to penicillin (MIC > or = 0.1 mg/l and < or = 1 mg/l) and no resistant strains were detected. The most common phenotype was B:4:P1.15 (77.5%) and a rising trend of non-typeable and non-subtypeable strains was detected. The increase in levels of minimal inhibitory concentrations of meningococci to penicillin gives cause for concern and the increase in non-typeable and non-subtypeable isolation demand the use of molecular biology techniques for their typing.

In vitro activities of ciprofloxacin, cefotaxime, ceftriaxone, chloramphenicol, and rifampin against fully susceptible and moderately penicillin-resistant Neisseria meningitidis

Moderately penicillin-resistant Neisseria meningitidis was responsible for an outbreak of meningococcal disease in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada in 1993. We tested fully susceptible and moderately resistant strains of N. meningitidis against ciprofloxacin, cefotaxime, ceftriaxone, chloramphenicol, penicillin, and rifampin. Eighteen percent of the isolates were moderately resistant to penicillin (MIC > or = 0.06 microgram/ml) whereas susceptibility was 100% for the other agents tested.