[en] Although most invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) cases are sporadic without identified transmission links, outbreaks can occur. We report three cases caused by meningococcus B (MenB) at a Belgian nursery school over 9 months. The first two cases of IMD occurred in spring and summer 2018 in healthy children (aged 3-5 years) attending the same classroom. Chemoprophylaxis was given to close contacts of both cases following regional guidelines. The third case, a healthy child of similar age in the same class as a sibling of one case, developed disease in late 2018. Microbiological analyses revealed MenB with identical finetype clonal complex 269 for Case 1 and 3 (unavailable for Case 2). Antimicrobial susceptibility testing revealed no antibiotic resistance. Following Case 3, after multidisciplinary discussion, chemoprophylaxis and 4CMenB (Bexsero) vaccination were offered to close contacts. In the 12-month follow-up of Case 3, no additional cases were reported by the school. IMD outbreaks are difficult to manage and generate public anxiety, particularly in the case of an ongoing cluster, despite contact tracing and management. This outbreak resulted in the addition of MenB vaccination to close contacts in Wallonian regional guidelines, highlighting the potential need and added value of vaccination in outbreak management.
Disciplines :
Pediatrics Immunology & infectious disease
Author, co-author :
Jacquinet, Stéphanie ; Epidemiology of infectious diseases, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium
Mattheus, Wesley; National Reference Centre for Neisseria meningitidis, Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium
Quoilin, Sophie; Epidemiology of infectious diseases, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium
Wyndham-Thomas, Chloé; Epidemiology of infectious diseases, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium
Van der Linden, Dimitri; Institut de Recherche Expérimentale et Clinique (IREC), UCLouvain, Brussels, Belgium ; Pediatric Infectious Diseases, General Pediatrics, Pediatric Department Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc, Brussels, Belgium
Mulder, André; Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Centre Hospitalier Chrétien (CHC) Liège, Belgium
FRERE, Julie ; Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Liège - CHU > > Service de pédiatrie
Schirvel, Carole ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des maladies infectieuses et parasitaires (DMI) ; Agence pour une vie de qualité, infection prevention and control, Wallonia, Belgium
Language :
English
Title :
Outbreak of invasive meningococcal disease caused by a meningococcus serogroup B in a nursery school, Wallonia, Belgium, 2018.
Publication date :
March 2022
Journal title :
Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin
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