Kwara A, Adegbola R A, Corrah P T, Weber M, Achtman M, Morelli G, Caugant D A, Greenwood B M
Medical Research Council Laboratories, Fajara, Banjul, The Gambia.
Trop Med Int Health. 1998 Sep;3(9):742-6. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-3156.1998.00300.x.
Meningococci belonging to serogroup W135 caused several cases of meningococcal meningitis in The Gambia in 1995 and were isolated during a serogroup A epidemic in Mali in 1994. The eight isolates tested belonged to the same clone of the ET-37 complex and differed in several bands from the pulsed-field gel electrophoresis restriction pattern of serogroup C meningococci of the ET-37 complex isolated in Mali. Three of 6 patients infected in The Gambia died, indicating that this W135 clone is virulent. Vaccines that protect only against infections with meningococci belonging to serogroups A and C are usually used to control outbreaks in Africa, although vaccines containing the W135 polysaccharide are available. The findings of this study indicate that outbreaks of meningococcal meningitis in Africa can be associated with serogroup W135 infections and that serogrouping is essential before vaccination campaigns are started.
1995年，属于W135血清群的脑膜炎球菌在冈比亚引发了数起脑膜炎球菌性脑膜炎病例，并于1994年在马里的A群疫情期间被分离出来。所检测的8株菌株属于ET-37复合体的同一克隆，并且在几条条带上与在马里分离出的ET-37复合体C群脑膜炎球菌的脉冲场凝胶电泳限制性图谱不同。在冈比亚感染的6名患者中有3人死亡，这表明该W135克隆具有致病性。尽管有含W135多糖的疫苗，但在非洲通常使用仅针对A群和C群脑膜炎球菌感染的疫苗来控制疫情暴发。本研究结果表明，非洲的脑膜炎球菌性脑膜炎疫情可能与W135血清群感染有关，并且在开展疫苗接种运动之前进行血清群分类至关重要。
