Abstract:
Objective To study the molecular epidemiology of Neisseria meningitidis isolated in Jinan of Shandong province from 2005 to 2018.
Methods Multi locus sequence typing (MLST) was used to characterize the N. meningitidis, and the data were analyzed with BioNumerics software.
Results A total of 130 N. meningitidis isolates were isolated in Jinan from 2005 to 2018, including serogroupA, B, C, W135, Y and non-groupable (NG) strains. The N.meningitidis strains were classified into to 37 sequence types (STs), in which 2 serogroup A strains were classified into 2 STs, belonging to clonal complex 5 and unknown clonal complex; 24 serogroup B strains were classified into 17 STs, belonging to clonal complex 4821, clonal complex 162 and unknown clonal complex; 39 serogroup C strains were classified into 8 STs, belonging to clonal complex 4821, clonal complex 32 and unknown clonal complex; 54 serogroup W135 strains were classified into 3 STs, belonging to clonal complex 11 and clonal complex 4821; 1 serogroup Y strain was ST-92, belonging to clonal complex 92; 10 of NG strains were classified into 8 STs, belonging to clonal complex 4821, clonal complex 198 and unknown clonal complex. Among the 108 strains with known clonal complex, 48.15% (52/108) belonged toclonal complex 11 and 45.37% (49/108) belonged to clonal complex 4821. Twenty-two strains of unknown clonal complex belonged to 18 STs, in which 15 strains were in serogroup B, belonging to 10 STs.
Conclusion The STs of N. meningitidis in Jinan from 2005 to 2018 showed polymorphism and it was obvious in NG and serogroup B strains. Clonal complex 4821 and clonal complex 11 were two predominant clones. N. meningitidis serogroup B showed polyclonal trend in Jinan.