Genomic fingerprints and phenotypic characteristics of strains of Neisseria meningitidis causing disease in Italy.

Since 1984 a change in the epidemiological pattern of meningococcal disease in Italy has occurred with a predominance of Neisseria meningitidis of serogroup C (76%), serotype 2a and a high proportion of strains resistant to sulfonamides (71%). To better understand the epidemiology of the group C N. meningitidis strains responsible for the disease over the last five years in Italy, we studied the DNA fingerprinting of 62 strains in combination with serotyping and sulfonamide susceptibility testing. The results show that the phenotypical features as well as the fingerprints of the strains studied were similar, suggesting the spread of a single clone in the patients studied. This is in agreement with the circulation of strains typical of epidemic situations, despite the decreasing incidence of the disease in Italy during the examined period.