A novel antigen that induces cross-reactive bactericidal antibodies against a number of Neisseria meningitidis strains is described. This antigen, a approximately 28-kDa lipoprotein called LP2086, was first observed within a complex mixture of soluble outer membrane proteins (sOMPs) following a series of fractionation, protein purification, and proteomics steps. Approximately 95 different neiss...

Neisseria meningitidis is a strictly human pathogen and is one of the major causes of septicemia and meningitis worldwide. Functional genomics approaches have been extensively applied to study how N. meningitidis adapts to grow and survive in different human niches encountered during the infection. DNA microarrays performed in in vitro and ex vivo conditions have revealed changes in the transcr...

In 2015, the UK became the first country in the world to have a comprehensive routine meningococcal vaccine programme targeting all of the main capsular groups of N. meningitidis. 1 An infant vaccine programme against meningococcal capsular group B Neisseria meningitidis (MenB) was launched from 1st September with an aim to reduce endemic MenB disease in early childhood. On 1st August 2015, an ...

In 2010, Jaton et al. (False-negative PCR result due to gene polymorphism: the example of Neisseria meningitidis. J Clin Microbiol 2010;48:4590-2) reported an isolate of Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B that was not detected by the ctrA quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) used in our diagnostic laboratory. Sequence analysis of ctrA revealed several single nucleotide polymorphisms responsible...

Neisseria meningitidis is a leading cause of pyogenic meningitis worldwide, as well as causing large epidemics in parts of Africa. With the dramatic decline in cases of Haemophilus in uenzae B, N. meningitidis has emerged as one of the most common causes of acute bacterial meningitis in children and adults in South Africa. However, it remains an uncommon cause of meningitis in the neonatal peri...

BACKGROUND We report the first adult case of Neisseria meningitidis W-135 presenting with meningococcal arthritis and myopericarditis concomitantly, without other classical features of meningococcal disease. CASE PRESENTATION A 67-year-old Caucasian man presented with acute-onset polyarthralgia, myalgia, and fever. On examination he had polyarticular synovitis. An electrocardiogram (ECG) demo...

Lipooligosaccharide (LOS) structure and capsular polysaccharide of Neisseria meningitidis each greatly influence the virulence of the organism and the quality of host innate immune responses. In this study, we found that production of the proinflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor (TNF) by a human monocyte-derived cell line (THP-1) exposed to strains of N. meningitidis lacking capsule and/o...

To The Editor: Immediate management of meningococcal disease requires antimicrobial drug treatment of patients with β-lactams and chemo-prophylaxis of contact persons with rifampin. High-level resistance to rifampin (MIC >32 mg/L) in Neisseria meningitidis is provoked by mutations (most frequently at the residue His 552) in the rpoB gene encoding the β subunit of RNA poly-merase (1,2). Resistan...

A series of 26 cases of meningitis occurring in one year in a defined area is presented. The clinical features, and complications are reviewed. Neisseria meningitidis occurred twice as commonly as Haemophilus influenzae, suggesting that the pattern of infection differs from that reported in England and Wales. An incidence of 4.6/100,000 for N. meningitidis is reported exceeding rates of infecti...

We investigated the conservation and antibody accessibility of inner core epitopes of Neisseria meningitidis lipopolysaccharide (LPS) because of their potential as vaccine candidates. An immunoglobulin G3 murine monoclonal antibody (MAb), designated MAb B5, was obtained by immunizing mice with a galE mutant of N. meningitidis H44/76 (B. 15.P1.7,16 immunotype L3). We have shown that MAb B5 can b...