Global Meningococcal Initiative: Insights on antibiotic resistance, control strategies and advocacy efforts in Western Europe

Ray Borrow¹, Helen Campbell², Dominique A Caugant³, Abdessalam Cherkaoui⁴, Heike Claus⁵, Ala-Eddine Deghmane⁶, Ener Cagri Dinleyici⁷, Lee H Harrison⁸, William P Hausdorff⁹, Paula Bajanca-Lavado¹⁰, Corinne Levy¹¹, Wesley Mattheus¹², Claudia Mikula-Pratschke¹³, Paula Mölling¹⁴, Marco Ap Sáfadi¹⁵, Vinny Smith¹⁶, Nina M van Sorge¹⁷, Paola Stefanelli¹⁸, Muhamed-Kheir Taha⁶, Maija Toropainen¹⁹, Georgina Tzanakaki²⁰, Julio Vázquez²¹

Affiliations

¹ UK Health Security Agency, Meningococcal Reference Unit, Manchester, UK. Electronic address: ray.borrow@ukhsa.gov.uk.
² Immunisation Division, UK Health Security Agency, London, UK.
³ Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
⁴ National Reference Center on Meningococci, Laboratory of Bacteriology, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁵ German National Reference Center for Meningococci and Haemophilus influenzae, Institute for Hygiene and Microbiology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
⁶ Institut Pasteur, Invasive Bacterial Infections Unit and National Reference Centre for Meningococci, Paris, France.
⁷ Eskisehir Osmangazi University Faculty of Medicine, Eskisehir, Turkey.
⁸ Center for Genomic Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, USA.
⁹ Center for Vaccine Innovation and Access, PATH, Washington, DC, USA and Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
¹⁰ National Reference Laboratory for Neisseria meningitidis, Department of Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge, Lisbon, Portugal.
¹¹ French Paediatric Infectious Disease Group (GPIP), Créteil, France.
¹² National Reference Centre for Neisseria meningitidis, Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium.
¹³ Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety, Graz, Austria.
¹⁴ National Reference Laboratory for Neisseria meningitidis, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Clinical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden.
¹⁵ Santa Casa de Sao Paulo School of Medical Sciences, Brazil.
¹⁶ Meningitis Research Foundation, Bristol, UK.
¹⁷ Netherlands Reference Laboratory for Bacterial Meningitis, Amsterdam University Medical Centre location AMC, Department of Medical Microbiology and Infection Prevention, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
¹⁸ Department of Infectious Diseases, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
¹⁹ Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Department of Public Health, Helsinki, Finland.
²⁰ National Meningitis Reference Laboratory, Department of Public Health Policy, School of Public Health, University of West Attica, Athens, Greece.
²¹ Institute of Health Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.

PMID: 39489181
DOI: 10.1016/j.jinf.2024.106335

Review

Global Meningococcal Initiative: Insights on antibiotic resistance, control strategies and advocacy efforts in Western Europe

Ray Borrow et al. J Infect. 2024 Dec.

. 2024 Dec;89(6):106335.

doi: 10.1016/j.jinf.2024.106335. Epub 2024 Nov 1.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ UK Health Security Agency, Meningococcal Reference Unit, Manchester, UK. Electronic address: ray.borrow@ukhsa.gov.uk.
² Immunisation Division, UK Health Security Agency, London, UK.
³ Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
⁴ National Reference Center on Meningococci, Laboratory of Bacteriology, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁵ German National Reference Center for Meningococci and Haemophilus influenzae, Institute for Hygiene and Microbiology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
⁶ Institut Pasteur, Invasive Bacterial Infections Unit and National Reference Centre for Meningococci, Paris, France.
⁷ Eskisehir Osmangazi University Faculty of Medicine, Eskisehir, Turkey.
⁸ Center for Genomic Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, USA.
⁹ Center for Vaccine Innovation and Access, PATH, Washington, DC, USA and Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
¹⁰ National Reference Laboratory for Neisseria meningitidis, Department of Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge, Lisbon, Portugal.
¹¹ French Paediatric Infectious Disease Group (GPIP), Créteil, France.
¹² National Reference Centre for Neisseria meningitidis, Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium.
¹³ Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety, Graz, Austria.
¹⁴ National Reference Laboratory for Neisseria meningitidis, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Clinical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden.
¹⁵ Santa Casa de Sao Paulo School of Medical Sciences, Brazil.
¹⁶ Meningitis Research Foundation, Bristol, UK.
¹⁷ Netherlands Reference Laboratory for Bacterial Meningitis, Amsterdam University Medical Centre location AMC, Department of Medical Microbiology and Infection Prevention, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
¹⁸ Department of Infectious Diseases, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
¹⁹ Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Department of Public Health, Helsinki, Finland.
²⁰ National Meningitis Reference Laboratory, Department of Public Health Policy, School of Public Health, University of West Attica, Athens, Greece.
²¹ Institute of Health Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.

PMID: 39489181
DOI: 10.1016/j.jinf.2024.106335

Abstract

In Western Europe, many countries have robust and well-established surveillance systems and case reporting mechanisms. IMD incidence across Western Europe is low with a predominance of meningococcal serogroup B (MenB). Case confirmation and antimicrobial susceptibility testing is often standardised in this region, with many countries also having robust vaccination programmes in place. Both MenB and MenACWY vaccines form part of National Immunisation Programmes (NIPs) in most European countries, with Sweden only offering vaccination in special circumstances. Despite these established programmes, there remains a critical need for advocacy efforts in affecting change in diagnosis, testing, and treatment. Recent campaigns, such as the World Meningitis Day digital toolkit, have helped raise awareness and draw attention to meningococcal disease. Awareness around antibiotic resistance has also led to the identification of antibiotic-resistant meningococcal strains, with an increase, albeit small, in these strains noted across the region. Countries such as Spain, Portugal, Germany, Switzerland, and France have either reported strains resistant to penicillin, ciprofloxacin and/or isolates with a reduced susceptibility to third-generation cephalosporins.

Keywords: Europe; Meningococcal disease; Serogroup; Surveillance; Vaccination.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest Ray Borrow performs contract research on behalf of UKHSA for GSK, PATH, Pfizer and Sanofi. Heike Claus has received personal fee for scientific presentation for Sanofi. Ener Cagri Dinleyici performs contract work for the Eskisehir Osmangazi University funded by GSK, Sanofi Pasteur and Pfizer. Lee Harrison has served on advisory boards and/or made scientific presentations for GSK, Pfizer, Sanofi, and Merck, for which he does not receive any personal fees. William P. Hausdorff has served on advisory boards for Sanofi, Merck, and Vaxcyte, for which he does not receive any personal fees or reimbursement. Corinne Levy reports personal fees for advisory board and scientific presentations for MSD and Pfizer. Wesley Mattheus reports research grants funded by GSK and Pfizer. Marco A. P. Sáfadi reports research grants and personal fees for advisory boards from GSK, Pfizer, and Sanofi. Vinny Smith works for Meningitis Research Foundation that receives income from grants, sponsorship and consultancy income from GSK, MSD, Pfizer, Sanofi and Serum Institute of India. M.K. Taha performs contract work for the Institut Pasteur funded by GSK, Pfizer and Sanofi. M.K. Taha and A-E Deghmane have a patent NZ630133A Patent with GSK “Vaccines for serogroup X meningococcus” issued. Georgina Tzanakaki reports contract work on behalf of the University of West Attica as participation on advisory boards and scientific presentations for Pfizer, Sanofi and Merck. J.A. Vázquez performs contract work for the Institute of Health Carlos III funded by GSK and Pfizer and he has received personal fees from Pfizer and Sanofi. Nina van Sorge receives fee for service and presentations (directly paid to the institution) from MSD and GSK. Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare has received research funding from Pfizer and GSK for projects in which Maija Toropainen has acted as a researcher without personal remuneration.

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Global Meningococcal Initiative: Insights on antibiotic resistance, control strategies and advocacy efforts in Western Europe

Affiliations

Global Meningococcal Initiative: Insights on antibiotic resistance, control strategies and advocacy efforts in Western Europe

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

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