Artículo
An unusual transmission of Neisseria meningitidis : neonatal conjunctivitis acquired at delivery from the mother's endocervical infection
Autor
Fiorito, Susana M.
Galarza, Patricia G.
Sparo, Mónica
Pagano, Elba I.
Oviedo, Claudia
Resumen
Fil: Fiorito, Susana M. ANLIS Dr.C.G.Malbrán. Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas. Centro Nacional de Referencia en Enfermedades de Transmisión Sexual (CNR-ETS); Argentina. Fil: Galarza, Patricia G. ANLIS Dr.C.G.Malbrán. Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas. Centro Nacional de Referencia en Enfermedades de Transmisión Sexual (CNR-ETS); Argentina. Fil: Sparo, Mónica. Hospital Ramon Santamarina; Argentina. Fil: Pagano, Elba I. ANLIS Dr.C.G.Malbrán. Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas. Centro Nacional de Referencia en Enfermedades de Transmisión Sexual (CNR-ETS); Argentina. Fil: Oviedo, Claudia. ANLIS Dr.C.G.Malbrán. Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas. Centro Nacional de Referencia en Enfermedades de Transmisión Sexual (CNR-ETS); Argentina. BACKGROUND Primary meningococcal conjunctivitis is assumed to be due to the direct inoculation of Neisseria meningitidis into the conjunctival sac from an exogenous source. According to a literature review, no case of neonatal conjunctivitis infection acquired at delivery from maternal endocervicitis has been published. GOAL To report a case of meningococcal neonatal conjunctivitis acquired at delivery because of the mother's endocervical infection and cross-transmission of the strain with her partner. STUDY DESIGN Strains were characterized by bacteriologic and serologic methods including grouping (agglutination), typing, and subtyping (enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay). Molecular analysis was done by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. RESULTS The three strains (newborn infant, mother, partner) were of the same antigenic formula (C:NT:P1.NT) and exhibited similar NheI and SpeI pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns. CONCLUSION The identical phenotypic and genomic analysis of strains is the evidence for N meningitidis transmission at delivery from a maternal endocervical infection to the newborn infant and cross transmission between sexual partners.