Stein-Zamir Chen, Shoob Hanna, Abramson Nitza, Valinsky Lea, Jaffe Joseph, Maimoun David, Amit Sharon, Davidovich-Cohen Maya
Jerusalem District Health Office, Ministry of Health, 86 Jaffa Road, Jerusalem 9434124, Israel.
Faculty of Medicine, Hadassah Braun School of Public Health, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9112102, Israel.
Microorganisms. 2023 Aug 31;11(9):2212. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms11092212.
Invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) is a devastating disease with significant mortality and long-term morbidity. The COVID-19 pandemic and containment measures have affected the epidemiology of infectious pathogens. This study's aim was to assess IMD trends in Israel prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The invasive infection is a notifiable disease in Israel. Laboratory analysis includes serogrouping and molecular characterization. The overall national IMD incidence rate (1998-2022) was 0.8/100,000 population. The IMD incidence rates declined during the pandemic years (0.3/100,000 in 2020-2022 vs. 0.9/100,000 in 1998-2019). The number of notified IMD cases declined by 65% in 2020-2022. The case fatality rate among laboratory-confirmed IMD cases was 9% (47/521, 2007-2022). Mortality risk markers included cases' age (older) and socio-economic status (lower). Overall, most isolates were of serogroup B (62.6%), and the most prevalent clonal complex (CC) was CC32 (24.2%). Serogroup B prevailed in cases aged 0-9 years (74.5%) and less in cases aged 10 years and above (39%). serogroups and CC distribution altered recently with a decline in serogroup B fraction, an increase in serogroup Y, and a decline in CC32. Ongoing IMD surveillance is necessary to assess trends in circulating strains and support decision-making on meningococcal vaccination programs.
侵袭性脑膜炎球菌病（IMD）是一种具有高死亡率和长期发病率的毁灭性疾病。新冠疫情及其防控措施影响了传染病原体的流行病学特征。本研究旨在评估以色列在新冠疫情之前及期间的IMD流行趋势。在以色列，侵袭性感染属于应报告疾病。实验室分析包括血清群分型和分子特征分析。1998年至2022年期间，全国IMD总体发病率为每10万人0.8例。在疫情期间，IMD发病率有所下降（2020年至2022年为每10万人0.3例，而1998年至2019年为每10万人0.9例）。2020年至2022年期间，报告的IMD病例数下降了65%。实验室确诊的IMD病例病死率为9%（2007年至2022年期间，47/521）。死亡风险标志物包括病例年龄（较大）和社会经济地位（较低）。总体而言，大多数分离株属于B血清群（62.6%），最常见的克隆复合体（CC）是CC32（24.2%）。B血清群在0至9岁病例中占主导（74.5%），在10岁及以上病例中占比则较低（39%）。近期，血清群和CC的分布发生了变化，B血清群比例下降，Y血清群增加，CC32减少。持续进行IMD监测对于评估流行菌株的趋势以及支持脑膜炎球菌疫苗接种计划的决策至关重要。
