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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, November 2002, p. 3917-3921, Vol. 40, No. 11
0095-1137/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.40.11.3917-3921.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Rates of Detection of Neisseria meningitidis in Tonsils Differ in Relation to Local Incidence of Invasive Disease

Oliver Greiner,1 Christoph Berger,1 Philip J. R. Day,1,2 Gabriela Meier,1 Christoph M. Tang,3 and David Nadal1*

Divisions of Infectious Diseases,1 Oncology, University Children's Hospital of Zurich, CH 8032 Zurich, Switzerland,2 Centre for Molecular Microbiology and Infection, Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine, London SW7 2AZ, England3

Received 10 July 2002/ Returned for modification 6 August 2002/ Accepted 17 August 2002

Nasopharyngeal swabbing substantially underestimates carriage of Neisseria meningitidis. Real-time PCR assays were employed to examine the presence of a broad range of bacteria and of N. meningitidis groups B and C, respectively, in tonsils from 26 individuals from Oxford, England, and 72 individuals from Zurich, Switzerland. The detection limit of each PCR system was DNA from one bacterial cell per reaction mixture. Tonsillar DNA did not inhibit amplification of meningococcal gene sequences, and N. meningitidis was detected in tonsils exposed to the bacterium. Whereas in both sets of patients other bacteria were detected, N. meningitidis group B and group C were only found in tonsils from Oxford where the incidence of invasive meningococcal disease is much higher than in Zurich. These observations suggest that PCR-based methods could be used for the detection of meningococcal carriage and that difference in disease incidence could be explained by different transmission rates in the community rather than host genetics or coexisting infections.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Division of Infectious Diseases, University Children's Hospital, Steinwiesstrasse 75, CH-8032 Zurich, Switzerland. Phone: 41 1 266 7562. Fax: 41 1 266 7157. E-mail: david.nadal{at}kispi.unizh.ch.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, November 2002, p. 3917-3921, Vol. 40, No. 11
0095-1137/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.40.11.3917-3921.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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