TY - JOUR
T1 - Prevalence and Characteristics of Carriage of Neisseria meningitidis Among Young Israeli Adults
AU - Sofer-Sali, Noa
AU - Roif-Kaminsky, Diana
AU - Motro, Yair
AU - Khalfin, Boris
AU - Avramovich, Eva
AU - Galor, Inbal
AU - Shlaifer, Amir
AU - Sommer, Adir
AU - Rutenberg, Ran
AU - Sachter, Yacov
AU - Yitzhak, Avraham
AU - Grupel, Daniel
AU - Moran-Gilad, Jacob
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Infectious Diseases Society of America.
PY - 2022/10/1
Y1 - 2022/10/1
N2 - Background: No updated data currently exist regarding Neisseria meningitidis carriage and genomic epidemiology among young Israeli adults. Methods: Oropharyngeal swabs were collected from 1801 military recruits on the day of recruitment during 2019. Neisseria meningitidis was detected and identified by culture and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Confirmed isolates were serotyped by qPCR, and encapsulated strains underwent whole-genome sequencing. Risk factors for carriage were determined by analyzing focused questionnaires using uni- and multivariate models. Genomic typing was performed by means of core genome multilocus sequence typing. Results: Carriage rates overall and of encapsulated strains were 20.1% and 6.7%, respectively. Genogroups B (49.2%) and Y (26.7%) were the most commonly encapsulated strains. Genogroups C, W, and X were scarce, and genogroup A was absent. The most notable clonal complexes (CCs) were CC23 (n = 30), CC32 (n = 16), and CC44/41 (n = 9). Carriage was significantly associated with smoking (odds ratio [OR], 1.82; 95% CI, 1.43-2.33) and boarding school attendance before recruitment (OR, 1.49; 95% CI, 1.14-1.96). Conclusions: The prevalence of meningococcal carriage among young Israeli adults is high, compared with similar studies in other developed countries. This might be due to sociocultural characteristics including smoking and boarding school attendance during and after high school. The dominant genogroups and CCs found were compatible with those implicated in invasive disease in Israel.
AB - Background: No updated data currently exist regarding Neisseria meningitidis carriage and genomic epidemiology among young Israeli adults. Methods: Oropharyngeal swabs were collected from 1801 military recruits on the day of recruitment during 2019. Neisseria meningitidis was detected and identified by culture and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Confirmed isolates were serotyped by qPCR, and encapsulated strains underwent whole-genome sequencing. Risk factors for carriage were determined by analyzing focused questionnaires using uni- and multivariate models. Genomic typing was performed by means of core genome multilocus sequence typing. Results: Carriage rates overall and of encapsulated strains were 20.1% and 6.7%, respectively. Genogroups B (49.2%) and Y (26.7%) were the most commonly encapsulated strains. Genogroups C, W, and X were scarce, and genogroup A was absent. The most notable clonal complexes (CCs) were CC23 (n = 30), CC32 (n = 16), and CC44/41 (n = 9). Carriage was significantly associated with smoking (odds ratio [OR], 1.82; 95% CI, 1.43-2.33) and boarding school attendance before recruitment (OR, 1.49; 95% CI, 1.14-1.96). Conclusions: The prevalence of meningococcal carriage among young Israeli adults is high, compared with similar studies in other developed countries. This might be due to sociocultural characteristics including smoking and boarding school attendance during and after high school. The dominant genogroups and CCs found were compatible with those implicated in invasive disease in Israel.
KW - Neisseria meningitidis
KW - carriage
KW - epidemiology
KW - genomics
KW - risk factors
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85145048157
U2 - 10.1093/ofid/ofac482
DO - 10.1093/ofid/ofac482
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85145048157
SN - 2328-8957
VL - 9
JO - Open Forum Infectious Diseases
JF - Open Forum Infectious Diseases
IS - 10
M1 - ofac482
ER -