Epidemiology and etiology of the first imported ST-11 complex serogroup C meningococcal disease death case in Beijing

Objective To understand the epidemiological and etiological characteristics of the first imported ST-11 complex serogroup C meningococcal disease case in Beijing. Methods Blood specimen was collected from the suspected death case. Neisseria meningitis isolation, identification and serotyping were conducted with routine test, real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and multi locus sequence typing (MLST), and outer membrane protein PorA,fetA gene were detected. The drug susceptibility test to 12 antibiotics was conducted too. Results The isolate belonged to N. meningitidis serogroup C. The PorA and fetA allele of this strain were P1.1-5, 10-8 and F3-6 respectively. Its sequence type was ST-2724. The strain was sensitive to 10 antibiotics, but intermediate resistant to ampicillin and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. Conclusion The isolate had a phenotype C:P1.5-1, 10-8: F3-6 and its sequence type was ST-2724, which belong to ST-11/ET-37 clonal complex. No resistances to commonly used antibiotics were detected. This was the first ST-11/ET-37 clonal complex serogroup C Neisseria meningitidis strain detected in China.