| dc.description.abstract | Beyond new born period, N. meningitidis is one of the most common causes of bacterial meningitis. It belongs to the normal nasopharyngeal microbiota of healthy people. The rate of asymptomatic carriage varies depending on the population and epidemiological situation. Until now, the molecular epidemiology of meningococcal carriage and disease development is not fully understood. Since most patients with invasive meningococcal disease have not been in contact with other patients, carriers are believed to be the major source of virulent strains with potential causes of disease. In this study, molecular biology-based techniques were used to establish the genetic relationship of 14 meningococci isolated from healthy carriers who recruited in 2012 from different provinces of Vietnam. Multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) which were performed for all 14 isolates somehow showed that the bacterial population was highly diverse, comprising 5 different sequence types (STs) which belonged to 5 distinct clonal complexes. Two previous identified hyperinvasive lineages were determined: 5 isolates belonged to ST-41/44 clonal complex and 1 belonged to ST-32 clonal complex. In addition, to provide further discriminatory power, genes coding sequence for the outer membrane protein (OMP) PorA variable regions(VRs) 1, 2 and FetA were also performed. Six isolates were analyzed given the most abundant strain type C: P1.7-2,16-83:F1-7:ST-44. The obtained data confirmed that carried meningococci represent a highly dynamic population structure in Vietnam. | en_US |
