Molecular Сharacterization of <i>Neisseria meningitidis</i> Serogroup W in St. Petersburg

Abstract

The study included 14 isolates of Neisseria meningitidis serogroup W, isolated from patients with generalized forms of meningococcal infection aged 0–17 years at the Pediatric Research and Clinical Center for Infectious Diseases during the period from 2009 to 2020, as well as from carriers. The isolates from carriers (17–18 years old) were isolated in 2016–2019. The isolates were identified by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry using a Microflex LT mass spectrometer (Bruker Daltonics, Germany). Whole genome sequencing of N. meningitidis was carried out on the basis of the Miseq Illumina platform; it was established that they belong to ST11 (cc11) sequence type. The results of the whole genome sequencing of the studied meningococci showed that there are 2 groups of the subcluster belonging to the Hajj cluster in St. Petersburg. In addition, they show close affinity with meningococci of the Anglo-French and Swedish clusters of the Hajj line.

Keywords

• neisseria meningitidis
• meningococcal infection
• whole genome sequencing