Molecular characterization of invasive serogroup Y Neisseria meningitidis strains isolated in the Latin America region

Fil: Abad, Raquel. Instituto de Salud Carlos III. Centro Nacional de Microbiología. Reference Laboratory for Meningococci; España.Fil: Agudelo, Clara Inés. Instituto Nacional de Salud (INS). Microbiología; Colombia.Fil: Brandileone, María Cristina. Adolfo Lutz Institute. Bacteriology Branch; Brasil.Fil: Chanto, Grettel. Centro Nacional de Referencia en Bacteriología (INCIENSA); Costa Rica.Fil: Gabastou, Jean-Marc. Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/World Health Organization (WHO). Vacunas y Tecnologías de Salud. Unidad de Medicamentos Esenciales; Ecuador.Fil: Hormazabal, Juan Carlos. Instituto de Salud Pública (ISP). Bacteriología; Chile.Fil: O Gorla, M Cecilia. Adolfo Lutz Institute. Bacteriology Branch; Brasil.Fil: Maldonado, Aurora. Instituto de Salud Pública (ISP). Bacteriología; Chile.Fil: Moreno, Jaime. Instituto Nacional de Salud (INS). Microbiología; Colombia.Fil: Muros-Le Rouzic, Erwan. Sanofi-Pasteur. Global Scientific and Medical Affairs; Francia.Fil: Lersch, Robert. Sanofi-Pasteur. Global Scientific and Medical Affairs; Francia.Fil: Regueira, Mabel. ANLIS Dr.C.G.Malbrán. Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas. Departamento de Bacteriología; Argentina.Fil: Salcedo, Celia. Instituto de Salud Carlos III. Centro Nacional de Microbiología. Reference Laboratory for Meningococci; España.Fil: Sorhouet, Cecilia. ANLIS Dr.C.G.Malbrán. Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas. Departamento de Bacteriología; Argentina.Fil: Vázquez, Julio A. Instituto de Salud Carlos III. Centro Nacional de Microbiología. Reference Laboratory for Meningococci; España.Objectives: To improve the understanding of serogroup Y invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) in Latin America, particularly IMD molecular epidemiology; 166 Y serogroup isolates received at the National Reference Laboratories of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Costa Rica during 2000-2006 were characterized by their molecular markers. Methods: This analysis included serological assays to determine serogroup/serotype/serosubtype, DNA sequencing and genotyping of the porB and/or porA genes, multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and fetA allele determination. Results: Sixteen different antigenic combinations were observed. Sixty-two (37.3%) isolates were NT:P1.5 and 36 (21.7%) isolates were 14:NST. Thirty-two different STs appeared, but 3 STs (ST-1624, ST-23, and ST-5770) accounted for 69.9% (116) of the strains. Most of the IMD isolates belonged to the ST-23, ST-167 clonal complexes or the group composed by ST-5770 and related STs. Conclusions: Isolates obtained in Colombia and Costa Rica were similar to that of the United States, in that most sequence types belonged to the ST-23 clonal complex. IMD isolates found in Argentina appear to be the result of an independent event and did not spread from nearby countries, being the sequence type ST-1624 (ST-167 clonal complex) the most frequently found. We were unable to correlate an antigenic shift of outer membrane proteins with an increase of serogroup Y meningococcal cases in our collection of isolates