Meningococcus serogroup B (MenB), clonal complex 32 (cc 32), was the Brazilian epidemic strain of meningococcal disease (MD) in the 1990's. Currently, meningococcus serogroup C (MenC), cc 103, is responsible for most of the cases of the disease in Brazil. The aim of this study was to investigate the seroprevalence of bactericidal antibody (SBA) against representative epidemic strains of MenC, (...

A group of five tests utilizing wheat germ and soybean lectins and chromogenic substrates (orthonitrophenyl-beta-D-galactopyranoside, gamma-glutamyl-beta-naphthylamide, and prolyl-beta-naphthylamide derivatives) was used as a rapid (30-min) method for the identification of Neisseria gonorrhoeae. The rapid method agreed with Minitek test results for all 126 N. gonorrhoeae isolates and all 39 non...

Acute bacterial conjunctivitis is usually caused by the pneumococcus or Haemophilus influenzae, but other organisms are sometimes involved and it is important to identify these exactly. Among the less common pathogens are the neisseria, and both Neisseria gonorrhoeae and N meningitidis have been implicated in ophthalmic infections. N gonorrhoeae is particularly associated with severe destructiv...

Acute bacterial conjunctivitis is usually caused by the pneumococcus or Haemophilus influenzae, but other organisms are sometimes involved and it is important to identify these exactly. Among the less common pathogens are the neisseria, and both Neisseria gonorrhoeae and N meningitidis have been implicated in ophthalmic infections. N gonorrhoeae is particularly associated with severe destructiv...

Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C (NMSC) isolates of electrophoretic type 24 (ET-24), as identified by multilocus enzyme electrophoresis, are the main cause of serogroup C meningococcal disease outbreaks and sporadic meningococcal disease in the United States. We evaluated a random amplified polymorphic DNA assay as a rapid tool to screen for isolates of ET-24 by testing 199 NMSC isolates of 5...

Multiple cell wall blebs were observed on the surface of three strains of N. meningitidis taken from log phase cultures. The blebs originated as evaginations of the outer layer of the cell wall. Bleb production was noted on both defined or complex media either as broth or a solid medium. The addition of 10% normal bovine serum to the various media did not affect the production and release of th...

Nongroupable Neisseria meningitidis may constitute one-third or more of meningococcal isolates recovered from the nasopharynx of human carriers. The genetic basis for nongroupability was determined in isolates obtained from a population-based study in which 60 (30.9%) of 194 meningococcal isolates from asymptomatic carriers were not groupable. Forty-two percent of nongroupable isolates were rel...

A native outer membrane vesicles (NOMV) vaccine was developed from three antigenically diverse strains of Neisseria meningitidis that express the L1,8, L2, and L3,7 lipooligosaccharide (LOS) immunotypes, and whose synX, and lpxL1 genes were deleted.. Immunogenicity studies in mice showed that the vaccine induced bactericidal antibody against serogroups B, C, W, Y and X N. meningitidis strains. ...