Seven-week interval between acquisition of a meningococcus and the onset of invasive disease. A case report

• Published in: Epidemiology and infection Vol. 123; no. 3; pp. 507 - 509
• Main Authors: NEAL, K. R., NGUYEN-VAN-TAM, J. S., SLACK, R. C. B., KACZMARSKI, E. B., WHITE, A., ALA'ALDEEN, D. A. A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge Cambridge University Press 01.12.1999
• Subjects: Adult; Bacterial diseases; Bacterial diseases of the nervous system. Bacterial myositis; Bacteriology; Biological and medical sciences; Carrier State; Disease Progression; Diseases; Epidemiology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genes; Genotype; Human bacterial diseases; Humans; Immune system diseases; Infectious diseases; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Medical sciences; Meningococcal Infections - pathology; Meningococcal meningitis; Microbiology; Military recruitment; Neisseria meningitidis; Neisseria meningitidis - genetics; Neisseria meningitidis - pathogenicity; Pharyngeal diseases; Pharyngeal Diseases - pathology; Phenotype; Public health; SHORT REPORT; Short Reports; Time Factors; Human; Incubation; Neisseriaceae; Asymptomatic; Neisseria meningitidis; Epidemiology; Invasion; Infection; Case study; Follow up study; Bacteriosis; Bacteria; Micrococcales; Carrier; Meningococcal disease
• ISSN: 0950-2688; 1469-4409
• DOI: 10.1017/S0950268899003192

Invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) is thought to occur within a few days of pharyngeal acquisition of Neisseria meningitidis. During a longitudinal study of carriage and acquisition among 2453 first-year undergraduates we identified a male student from whom N. lactamica was isolated in October 1997 followed by N. meningitidis in December 1997. In mid-January 1998 this student suffered a mild episode of IMD (meningitis) during which N. meningitidis was isolated from his CSF. The meningococcus carried in December 1997 was phenotypically and genotypically indistinguishable from the invading organism, suggesting the possibility that the organism may have been carried for 7 weeks prior to the onset of invasive disease. Further studies are needed to assess more accurately the range of asymptomatic carriage prior to disease onset.