Prevention and control of meningococcal disease: Updates from the Global Meningococcal Initiative in Eastern Europe

Authors would like to thank Dr Olivier Ronveaux (Infectious Hazard Management, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland) for his contributions during this GMI Roundtable Meeting and for providing permission to use his presentation content in this manuscript. The authors were assisted in the preparation of the manuscript by Hannah Birchby, a professional medical writer at CircleScience, an Ashfield Company, part of UDG Healthcare plc. Medical writing support was funded by Sanofi Pasteur.The Global Meningococcal Initiative (GMI) aims to prevent invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) worldwide through education, research and cooperation. In March 2019, a GMI meeting was held with a multidisciplinary group of experts and representatives from countries within Eastern Europe. Across the countries represented, IMD surveillance is largely in place, with incidence declining in recent decades and now generally at <1 case per 100,000 persons per year. Predominating serogroups are B and C, followed by A, and cases attributable to serogroups W, X and Y are emerging. Available vaccines differ between countries, are generally not included in immunization programs and provided to high-risk groups only. Available vaccines include both conjugate and polysaccharide vaccines; however, current data and GMI recommendations advocate the use of conjugate vaccines, where possible, due to the ability to interrupt the acquisition of carriage. Ongoing carriage studies are expected to inform vaccine effectiveness and immunization schedules. Additionally, IMD prevention and control should be guided by monitoring outbreak progression and the emergence and international spread of strains and antibiotic resistance through use of genomic analyses and implementation of World Health Organization initiatives. Protection of high-risk groups (such as those with complement deficiencies, laboratory workers, migrants and refugees) is recommended.S

Prevention and control of meningococcal disease: Updates from the Global Meningococcal Initiative in Eastern Europe

Authors would like to thank Dr Olivier Ronveaux (Infectious Hazard Management, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland) for his contributions during this GMI Roundtable Meeting and for providing permission to use his presentation content in this manuscript. The authors were assisted in the preparation of the manuscript by Hannah Birchby, a professional medical writer at CircleScience, an Ashfield Company, part of UDG Healthcare plc. Medical writing support was funded by Sanofi Pasteur.The Global Meningococcal Initiative (GMI) aims to prevent invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) worldwide through education, research and cooperation. In March 2019, a GMI meeting was held with a multidisciplinary group of experts and representatives from countries within Eastern Europe. Across the countries represented, IMD surveillance is largely in place, with incidence declining in recent decades and now generally at <1 case per 100,000 persons per year. Predominating serogroups are B and C, followed by A, and cases attributable to serogroups W, X and Y are emerging. Available vaccines differ between countries, are generally not included in immunization programs and provided to high-risk groups only. Available vaccines include both conjugate and polysaccharide vaccines; however, current data and GMI recommendations advocate the use of conjugate vaccines, where possible, due to the ability to interrupt the acquisition of carriage. Ongoing carriage studies are expected to inform vaccine effectiveness and immunization schedules. Additionally, IMD prevention and control should be guided by monitoring outbreak progression and the emergence and international spread of strains and antibiotic resistance through use of genomic analyses and implementation of World Health Organization initiatives. Protection of high-risk groups (such as those with complement deficiencies, laboratory workers, migrants and refugees) is recommended.S

Phenotypic and genotypic properties of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated in Hungary, 1997-200

An account is given on the activity of the National Center for Phage Typing of Staphylococci in Hungary in the period between 1997 and 2000 related to methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains originating mainly from hospital infections and sporadic cases. The rate of multiresistant MRSA strains has decreased gradually from 98.1% in 1997 to 74.6% in 2000, accordingly the typability by phages showed a considerable improvement by the international basic phages. Resistance pattern of MRSA strains became narrower in the period of the examinations. With the exception of erythromycin the rate of resistance decreased probably as a consequence of the increased use of erythomycin. The typing method was completed with the phenotypic and genotypic characterization of macrolide resistance. Among 73 MRSA strains type A was the most frequent macrolide resistance group, while type B, C1 and C2 occurred rarely. Type A was frequent also among the few MSSA and CNS strains. Out of the 168 examined S. aureus strains ermA genes occurred in 81.5%; in MSSA and CNS strains ermC1 genes were frequent, both genes are responsible for the target modification. The msrA gene, encoding the increased efflux, occurred only in CNS strains. Comparing the results obtained by phenotyping (phage typing) and genotyping (AP-PCR) methods it is of note that MRSA strains which proved non-typable by phage typing gave suitable results by the AP-PCR

Distribution of Chlamydia trachomatis genotypes in neonatal conjunctivitis in Hungary

The objective of the present study was to determine the frequency and age distribution of different Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) genotypes causing ophthalmia neonatorum (ON) in Hungary. Using CT specific PCR, we tested 76 conjunctival samples from symptomatic infants up to 3 months old in the National Centre for Epidemiology, Budapest between 2008 and 2016. CT tested positive in 30 of 76 conjunctival samples (39.5 %). The sequencing of the positive samples was successful in every case but one, and resulted in 48 % dominance for genotype E (14/29), followed by 24 % for genotype G (7/29), 10 % for J (3/29), 6.9 % for K and F (2/29), and 3.4 % for H (1/29). CT must still be regarded as a common pathogen causing ON in Hungary. Routine screening and treatment of pregnant women can be recommended to prevent these conditions. Chronic ON cases can be reduced by early diagnosis. Further research is needed to explain the dominance of genotypes E and G