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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, October 1998, p. 2828-2834, Vol. 36, No. 10
0095-1137/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Molecular Epidemiology of Recent Belgian Isolates of Neisseria meningitidis Serogroup B

M. Van Looveren,1,* P. Vandamme,1,2 M. Hauchecorne,1 M. Wijdooghe,1 F. Carion,3 D. A. Caugant,4 and H. Goossens1

Department of Microbiology, University Hospital Antwerp, UIA, Antwerp,1 University of Ghent, Ghent,2 and Department of Bacteriology, Scientific Institute for Public Health-Louis Pasteur, Brussels,3 Belgium, and Department of Bacteriology, World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Reference and Research on Meningococci, National Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway4

Received 9 December 1997/Returned for modification 20 January 1998/Accepted 30 June 1998

In Belgium an increase in the incidence of meningococcal disease has been noted since the early 1990s. Four hundred twenty clinical strains isolated during the period from 1990 to 1995, along with a set of 30 European reference strains, and 20 Dutch isolates were examined by random-primer and repetitive-motif-based PCR. A subset was investigated by multilocus enzyme electrophoresis and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. The data were compared with results obtained by serotyping (M. Van Looveren, F. Carion, P. Vandamme, and H. Goossens, Clin. Microbiol. Infect. 4:224-228, 1998). Both phenotypic and molecular epidemiological data suggest that the lineage III of Neisseria meningitidis, first encountered in The Netherlands in about 1980, has been introduced in Belgium. The epidemic clone, as defined by oligonucleotide D8635-primed PCR, encompasses mainly phenotypes B:4:P1.4 and B:nontypeable:P1.4, but strains with several other phenotypes were also encountered. Therefore, serotyping alone would underestimate the prevalence of the epidemic clone.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Wilrijk. Belgium. Phone: 32 3 820-25-51. Fax: 32 3 820-26-63. E-mail: vloovere{at}uia.ua.ac.be.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, October 1998, p. 2828-2834, Vol. 36, No. 10
0095-1137/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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