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. 2022 Jun 1;225(11):1871-1875.
doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiac046.

Antimicrobial Susceptibility Survey of Invasive Neisseria meningitidis, United States 2012-2016

Caelin C Potts  1 , Lorraine D Rodriguez-Rivera  2   3 , Adam C Retchless  1 , Fang Hu  3 , Henju Marjuki  1 , Amy E Blain  1 , Lucy A McNamara  1 , Xin Wang  1
Affiliations

Antimicrobial Susceptibility Survey of Invasive Neisseria meningitidis, United States 2012-2016

Caelin C Potts et al. J Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Background: Historically, antimicrobial resistance has been rare in US invasive meningococcal disease cases.

Methods: Meningococcal isolates (n = 695) were collected through population-based surveillance, 2012-2016, and national surveillance, 2015-2016. Antimicrobial susceptibility was assessed by broth microdilution. Resistance mechanisms were characterized using whole-genome sequencing.

Results: All isolates were susceptible to 6 antibiotics (cefotaxime, ceftriaxone, meropenem, rifampin, minocycline, and azithromycin). Approximately 25% were penicillin or ampicillin intermediate; among these, 79% contained mosaic penA gene mutations. Less than 1% of isolates were penicillin, ampicillin, ciprofloxacin, or levofloxacin resistant.

Conclusions: Penicillin- and ampicillin-intermediate isolates were common, but resistance to clinically relevant antibiotics remained rare.

Keywords: Neisseria meningitidis; penA; antibiotic resistance; antimicrobial susceptibility; ciprofloxacin; invasive meningococcal disease; penicillin.

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Conflict of interest statement

Potential conflicts of interest. All authors: No reported conflicts of interest. All authors have submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest. Conflicts that the editors consider relevant to the content of the manuscript have been disclosed.

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