Laboratory‐Acquired Serogroup A Meningococcal Meningitis

Abstract

Neisseria meningitidis causes fulminant meningitis and sepsis. Worldwide, N. meningitidis serogroup A is responsible for large epidemic outbreaks (e.g., subSaharan Africa) and serogroups B, C, Y and W-135 cause epidemic and endemic disease. Meningococci are usually transmitted from person to person through close contact with contaminated aerosols and secretions from the human nasopharynx. Laboratory-acquired infection has been reported infrequently but laboratory technicians are at increased risk. Most of the reported cases of laboratory-acquired infections occur in clinical microbiology laboratories and have been due to serogroups B and C. For reasons that are unclear, the reported mortality of laboratory-acquired N. meningitidis sepsis or meningitis is ~50% , which is higher than mortality from endemic infections. We present the first reported case of laboratoryacquired serogroup A N. meningitidis meningitis in a 21 yr-old research laboratory assistant.