Population genetics and molecular epidemiology of Neisseria meningitidis.
APMIS
; 106(5): 505-25, 1998 May.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-9674888
ABSTRACT
Under non-epidemic conditions, Neisseria meningitidis causes disease primarily in children under the age of 5 and the cases are sporadic without any evident relationship between them. Occasionally, localized outbreaks of meningococcal disease occur, and sometimes epidemic waves of disease may spread to several countries or even continents and constitute a pandemic. In the past 10 years or so, population genetic analyses have provided insights into the biology of the bacterium and the epidemiology of meningococcal disease, improving our understanding of the cause of epidemics. Through the application of molecular methods, and especially multilocus enzyme electrophoresis, to N. meningitidis strains of worldwide origin, it has been possible to identify virulent clones and provide a surveillance system to warn of meningococcal epidemics. The characteristics of the predominant clones which are nowadays causing meningococcal disease in the world are summarized here and the importance of population genetics in interpreting the epidemiological data is illustrated.
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Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Variación Antigénica
/
Epidemiología Molecular
/
Meningitis Meningocócica
/
Neisseria meningitidis
Tipo de estudio:
Prognostic_studies
/
Screening_studies
Límite:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Child
/
Child, preschool
/
Humans
/
Infant
Idioma:
En
Revista:
APMIS
Asunto de la revista:
ALERGIA E IMUNOLOGIA
/
MICROBIOLOGIA
/
PATOLOGIA
Año:
1998
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Noruega