The Clinical Picture and Severity of Invasive Meningococcal Disease Serogroup W Compared With Other Serogroups in the Netherlands, 2015-2018

Anna D. Loenenbach, Arie van der Ende, Hester E. de Melker, Elisabeth A. M. Sanders, Mirjam J. Knol

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22 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Background. An increase in invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) serogroup W (IMD-W) cases caused by sequence type-11 clonal complex (cc11) was observed from October 2015 in the Netherlands. We compared the clinical picture and disease outcome of IMD-W cases with other serogroups, adjusting for host characteristics. Methods. We included IMD cases reported from January 2015 to June 2018 in the Netherlands and assessed clinical manifestation and symptoms at disease onset and calculated case fatality rates (CFRs). We used logistic regression to compare clinical manifestations and mortality of IMD-W with IMD caused by meningococci serogroup B, Y, or C, adjusting for age, gender, and comorbidities. Results. A total of 565 IMD cases were reported, of which 204 were IMD-W, 270 IMD-B, 63 IMD-Y, and 26 IMD-C. Most IMD-W isolates belonged to cc11 (93%; 175/188). Compared with other serogroups, IMD-W patients were diagnosed more often with septicemia (46%) or pneumonia (12%) and less often with meningitis (17%, P <.001). IMD-W cases presented more often with respiratory symptoms (45%, P <.001); 16% of IMD-W patients presented with diarrhea without IMD-specific symptoms (P =.061). The CFR for IMD-W was 16% (32/199, P <.001). The differences between IMD-W and other serogroups remained after adjusting for age, gender, and comorbidities. Conclusions. The atypical presentation and severe outcome among IMD-W cases could not be explained by age, gender, and comorbidities. Almost all our IMD-W cases were caused by cc11. More research is needed to identify the bacterial factors involved in clinical presentation and severity of IMD-W cc11.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2036-2044
Number of pages9
JournalClinical Infectious Diseases
Volume70
Issue number10
Early online date26 Sept 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 6 May 2020

Keywords

  • Meningococcal infections
  • Neisseria meningitidis
  • Netherlands
  • Public health surveillance
  • Serogroup W

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