Taha Muhamed-Kheir
Unité des Neisseria and Centre National de Reference des Méningocoque Institut Pasteur, 28 rue du Dr Roux, 75724 Paris, France.
Expert Rev Mol Diagn. 2002 Mar;2(2):143-50. doi: 10.1586/14737159.2.2.143.
Immediate management of meningococcal infections is a medical emergency that requires rapid identification and typing of bacterial strains. Isolation of Neisseria meningitidis is hindered by early antibiotic treatment. Molecular (nonculture) methods of diagnosis and characterization of N. meningitidis permit to overcome this failure. This bacterium is highly variable due to frequent horizontal DNA exchange between strains. Molecular approaches of typing allow a reliable tracking of meningococcal strains and a powerful epidemiological analysis.
脑膜炎球菌感染的即时处理是一项医疗急症，需要快速鉴定细菌菌株并确定其类型。早期抗生素治疗会妨碍脑膜炎奈瑟菌的分离。脑膜炎奈瑟菌的分子（非培养）诊断和鉴定方法有助于克服这一难题。由于菌株之间频繁发生水平DNA交换，这种细菌具有高度变异性。分型的分子方法能够可靠地追踪脑膜炎球菌菌株并进行有力的流行病学分析。
