Meningococcal infections in hospitalised patients in Pretoria

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Authors

Moodley, Teshni
Lekalakala, M. Ruth
De Gouveia, L.
Dangor, Yusuf
Hoosen, Anwar Ahmed

Journal Title

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Volume Title

Publisher

Health and Medical Publishing Group

Abstract

We report on 13 patients diagnosed with meningococcal infections in patients attending state-owned hospitals serving an indigent population in Pretoria in 2009. The case fatality rate was 27%. Ceftriaxone was the main antibiotic (9 out of 13 patients) for therapy. Five isolates (39%) were serogroup B and 4 (31%) serogroup W135. Most isolates (12/13) were fully susceptible to penicillin (MIC range 0.016 - 0.047 μg/ml). A single isolate was intermediately resistant to penicillin (MIC, 0.125 μg/ml) while all isolates were uniformly susceptible to ceftriaxone, ciprofloxacin and rifampicin. This pattern reveals a shift in serogroups with an increase of serogroup B disease in the Pretoria region, and the need for ongoing monitoring of antimicrobial susceptibility profiles and the value of ceftriaxone for favourable therapeutic outcome.

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Keywords

Meningococcal infections, Hospitalised patients, Pretoria

Sustainable Development Goals

Citation

Moodley, T, Lekalakala, MR, De Gouveia, L, Dangor, Y & Hoosen, AA 2011, 'Meningococcal infections in hospitalised patients in Pretoria', South African Medical Journal, vol. 101, no. 10, pp. 736-738.