Neisseria meningitidis

Riddhi Patel
 INTRODUCTION
Neisseriameningitidisalsoknownas
"MeningococcalMeningitis,isabacterium
hostedonlybyhumansandisaleading
causeofbacterialmeningitisintheUnited
States.
CHARACTERISTICS OF N. MENINGITIDIS
Neisseria meningitidis isabacteriumthat
livesinsidethemucousmembranesof
about5%to10%ofthehumanpopulation
(parasite),butitrarelycausesanydisease.
Itisagram-negativediplococcusbacteria
Non-motile
Oxidasepositive
Aerobic
OptimumGrowthinWarm,Moist
Environment
SusceptibletoDrying
RESERVOIRS / EPIDEMIOLOGY
OF THE PATHOGEN

Humansaretheprimaryreservoirsof N. meningitidis.
Colonizethenasopharynx
N. meningitidis inThayer-Martin
agar
 MAJOR DISEASE OUTBREAKS
TheWestAfricanmeningitisoutbreakstartedin
January2009.
Itisanepidemicofbacterialmeningitiswhich
hasbeenoccurringinBurkinaFaso,Mali,Niger,
andNigeria.
Theepidemicaffectedwithatotalof13,516
casesand931deathsaccordingtoUNICEF.
 MAJOR DISEASE OUTBREAKS
Thebiggestrecordedoutbreak
ofepidemicmeningitisinAfrica
occurredin1996withover
250,000casesand25,000
deaths.
ItoccurredintheAfrican
meningitisbelt.TheAfrican
meningitisbeltstretchesfrom
SenegalinthewesttoEthiopia
intheeastandishometoabout
350millionpeople.
 OUTBREAKTRENDS
Bacterialmeningitisusuallyoccursinsmallclusters
throughouttheworldwithseasonalvariation.
Thelargestburdenofmeningococcaldiseaseoccursinthe
Africanmeningitisbelt.
Thereisanincreaseinmeningococcaldiseaseduringthe
dryseasonwhichisfromDecembertoJune.
Atthesametime,transmissionofN. meningitidis maybe
assistedbyovercrowdedhousingandbylargepopulation
displacementsattheregionallevelduetopilgrimagesand
traditionalmarkets.
 MECHANISM OF PATHOGENICITY
N. Meningitidis istransmittedfrompersontoperson
throughdropletsofrespiratoryorthroatsecretions.
Closeandprolongedcontactfacilitatesthespread
ofthedisease.
Theaverageincubationperiodforthebacteriais4
days,butcanrangebetween2and10days.
N. meningitidisonlyinfectshumans,sothereisno
animalreservoir.
 DISEASES
InfectionwithN. meningitidisleadto
Meningococcemia
BacterialMeningitis
 MENINGOCOCCEMIA
Itistheinfectionofthebloodstream
thatleadstoinflammationofthe
bloodvessels.
Thebleedingoccurswhenblood
vesselsaredamagedbytherelease
ofendotoxinsinlargequantities.
Canbetransferredfrompersonto
personviarespiratorysecretions.
Meningococcemiacanleadtodeath
withinhours.
Symptoms of Meningococcemia

Anxiety
Fever
Headache
Irritability
Musclepain
Nausea
Purplerash
 BACTERIALMENINGITIS
AlsoknownasMeningococcalMeningitis,isthe
inflammationofthemembranesthatsurrounds
thebrainandthespinalcord.
Itcanresultinbraindamage,hearingloss,
and/orlearningabilities.
 Symptoms of Bacterial
Meningitidis
Over the age of 2
Infants under the age of 2
Slow
Inactive
Vomiting
Irritable
Feedingpoorly

Confusion
Lackofappetite
 TREATMENT
Meningococcemia Bacterial Meningitis
Antibiotics Antibiotics
PenicillinG Penicillin,
Cephalosporin(ceftriaxone) Ampicillin,
Chloramphenicol
Ceftriaxone
 PREVENTION
Allfamilyandclosecontactsshouldbegin
antibiotictreatmentassoonaspossibleto
preventspreadoftheinfection.
Goodhygienehabits
 PREVENTION(cont.)
Vaccines
MeningococcalpolysaccharidevaccineMPSV4(1970s)
MeningococcalconjugatevaccineMCV4(2005)
A,C,Y,andW-135

Theyarerecommendedfor:
Collegestudents
Militaryrecruits
Travelerstocertainpartsoftheworld
 CONCLUSION
Neisseria meningitidis isabacteriumthatlivesinsidethe
nosesandthroatsofabout5%to10%ofthehuman
population.
HumansaretheprimaryreservoirsofNeisseria
meningitidis.
ItcausesBacterialMeningitis,andMeningococcemia.
N. meningitidis istransmittedfrompersontoperson
throughdropletsofrespiratoryorthroatsecretions.
Everyoneshouldmaintaingoodhygienehabits,and
shouldbevaccinated.
Q&A