Abstract

LEON, María Eugenia et al. Serogroups and antimicrobial resistance of Neisseria meningitidis causing invasive disease in Paraguay. Mem. Inst. Investig. Cienc. Salud [online]. 2022, vol.20, n.1, pp.30-38. ISSN 1812-9528.  https://doi.org/10.18004/mem.iics/1812-9528/2022.020.01.30.

Meningococcal disease represents a public health problem and one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The serogroups that cause the highest burden of disease globally are A, B, C, W, and Y. The aim of the study was to describe serogroups and antimicrobial resistance of Neisseria meningitidis isolated from invasive disease in Paraguay during the 2010-2020 period. Samples of cerebrospinal fluid and blood with isolates or detection of DNA by PCR of N. meningitidis from patients of different ages referred to the Central Public Health Laboratory during the period 2010-2020 within the framework of the epidemiological surveillance of meningitis (n = 163) in Paraguay were studied. The highest frequency of N. meningitidis findings was observed in the <1 year age group, 25.7% of the cases corresponded to serogroup B, 52.1% to serogroup C, 18.4% to serogroup W and 3.7% to serogroup Y. In 2018, the highest number of cases by serogroup C (n = 27) was found. The lowest frequency of decreased sensitivity to penicillin G was in 2010 (12.5%) and the highest in 2014 (100.0%). There was an increase in cases due to serogroup C in 2017, positioning itself as the prevalent serogroup until 2020, in addition, there was an increase in decreased sensitivity to penicillin. Surveillance is important in the control of meningococcal disease for outbreak detection, estimation of the burden of disease, analysis of antimicrobial resistance, serogroup distribution, and evaluations of control strategies.

Keywords : Meningococcal disease; Neisseria meningitidis; Paraguay.

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