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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, December 2003, p. 5783-5786, Vol. 41, No. 12
0095-1137/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.41.12.5783-5786.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

First Report of Capsule Replacement among Electrophoretic Type 37 Neisseria meningitidis Strains in Italy

Laboratory of Bacteriology and Medical Mycology, Istituto Superiore di Sanitá, Rome, Italy

Received 18 June 2003/ Returned for modification 4 August 2003/ Accepted 18 September 2003

This report describes the C-to-B capsular switching in four Neisseria meningitidis strains belonging to the electrophoretic type 37 (ET-37) complex. In particular, one strain belonged to the new sequence type 1860, which was first detected in the year 2000 in Italy and is now frequently isolated. The presence of switched serogroup B strains deserves special attention if they prove as able to spread as their serogroup C progenitors belonging to the hypervirulent ET-37 complex.

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