Previous Article | Next Article 
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, April 2009, p. 1561-1566, Vol. 53, No. 4
0066-4804/09/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/AAC.00994-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Antibiotic Susceptibility and Characteristics of Neisseria meningitidis Isolates from the African Meningitis Belt, 2000 to 2006: Phenotypic and Genotypic Perspectives
Sara Thulin Hedberg,1*
Hans Fredlund,1
Pierre Nicolas,2
Dominique A. Caugant,3
Per Olcén,1 and
Magnus Unemo1
National Reference Laboratory for Pathogenic Neisseria, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Microbiology, Örebro University Hospital, Örebro, Sweden,1 French Forces Institute of Tropical Medicine (IMTSSA), WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Meningococci, Marseille, France,2 WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Meningococci, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway3
Received 25 July 2008/ Returned for modification 12 October 2008/ Accepted 18 January 2009
Up-to-date information regarding the antibiotic susceptibility of Neisseria meningitidis strains from African countries is highly limited. Our aim was to comprehensively describe the antibiotic susceptibilities of a selection of N. meningitidis isolates recovered between 2000 and 2006 from 18 African countries, mainly those within the meningitis belt. Susceptibilities to 11 antibiotics were determined using Etest for 137 N. meningitidis isolates (stringently selected from 693 available isolates). The isolates were also characterized by serogrouping, multilocus sequence typing, genosubtyping, and penA allele identification. All N. meningitidis isolates were susceptible to ceftriaxone, chloramphenicol, and ciprofloxacin. No isolate produced β-lactamase. Only three isolates (2%) displayed reduced susceptibility to penicillin G. The two isolates with the highest penicillin G MICs were the only isolates showing reduced susceptibility to ampicillin and cefuroxime. One of these isolates was also resistant to penicillin V. One percent of isolates displayed reduced susceptibility to rifampin, while 52% of the isolates were resistant to tetracycline, 74% were resistant to erythromycin, and 94% were resistant to sulfadiazine. The MICs of rifampin and tetracycline seemed to be associated with the serogroup of the isolates. In total, 18 sequence types (STs), 10 genosubtypes, and 8 different penA alleles were identified; the most common were ST-7, P1.20,9,35-1, and penA4, respectively. A high level of correlation was found between ST, genosubtype, and penA allele. In conclusion, N. meningitidis isolates from the African meningitis belt remain highly susceptible to the antibiotics used. Regarding β-lactam antibiotics, rare isolates showed a reduced susceptibility to penicillins, but the expanded-spectrum cephalosporins are not affected at present.
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Microbiology, Örebro University Hospital, SE-701 85 Örebro, Sweden. Phone: 46 19 602 15 20. Fax: 46 19 12 74 16. E-mail: sara.thulin-hedberg{at}orebroll.se
Published ahead of print on 2 February 2009.
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, April 2009, p. 1561-1566, Vol. 53, No. 4
0066-4804/09/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/AAC.00994-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology. For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»