• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.89-110
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• 2012

Meningococcal Disease, manifesting as meningitis and septicemia, is a life-threatening bacterial infection that results in significant morbidity and mortality, particularly in childhood. Its epidemic potential and limited opportunities for clinical intervention due to its rapid course present unique public health and clinical challenges. Incidence is highest in infants and young children, with a secondary peak of risk in adolescents. Approximately 10% of cases are fatal and survivors can be left with serious and permanent sequelae including amputations, hearing loss and cognitive impairment. Transmission is only from human-to-human, by infected respiratory tract secretions or saliva and therefore crowding poses a tremendously elevated risk for disease development. Military recruits and university students are at high risk due to the high carriage rate in adolescents, their behavior patterns and close contact. Menveo$^{(R)}$ (Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics), a novel quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine directed against meningococcal serogroups A, C, W-135 and Y, has been shown to be immunogenic and well tolerated in all age groups and was recently licensed for use in Korea. Recent cases and deaths among military recruits drew public attention to their elevated risk and the Korean government has recommended vaccination of all new military recruits. Many Korean students seek to attend school, university, or language institutes in countries where routine meningococcal vaccination is required - clinicians should be aware of such requirements to ensure that students are vaccinated prior to arrival in the destination country.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.126-130
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• 2004

Neisseria meningitidis is a leading cause of meningitis and septicemia in children and young adults. Meningococcemia, the most severe form of infection, represents a part of the various spectrum of the illness, and its clinical manifestations varied from mild fever and occult bacteriemia to fulminant catastrophic events(e.g., sepsis, shock, and death) within a few hours after onset of symptoms. Complement deficiencies, either congenital or acqired, increase the risk for invasive meningococcal disease. Since C3 plays a critical role in the complement cascade, congenital C3 deficiency or conditions that decrease C3(e.g., systemic lupus erythematosus, cirrhosis, nephritis, C3 nephritic factor) increase the risk for invasive disease due to pyogenic bacteria including N. meningitidis. We had experienced a case of meningococcemia and meningococcal meningitis presenting with mild fever, petechiae, and purpura. The patient was a 7-year old male. He had mild fever, vomiting, headache, nuchal rigidity, petechiae and purpura on both lower extremities, which spreaded to the whole body. His blood culture grew Neisseria meningitidis. The diagnosis of meningococcal meningitis was confirmed by examination of cerebrospinal fluid. The clinical symptoms of the illness were improved after treatment of antibiotics(cefotaxime) for 12 days. However the patient had developed generalized edema, microscopic hematuria & proteinuria on the third day after admission. High ASO titer and low serum C3 level were also noted. The microscopic hematuria returned to normal about 2 months after discharge. The C3 level returned to normal range about 3~4 months after discharge. we report a case of combined acute poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis and acute invasive meningococcal disease with reference review.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.457-460
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• 2006

A suspicious meningococcal meningitis death case was reported to the Beijing CDC. The blood specimen was analyzed via multi-PCR and MLST. 6 isolates from close contacts were analyzed via PFGE and MLST. According to the results of the above analyses, the cause of this case was identified as a serogroup A Neisseria meningitidis, which, in terms of sequence typing, belonged the ST7 group.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.165-169
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• 2018

Sepsis and meningitis caused by Neisseria meningitidis are rare in neonates, but neonatal sepsis and meningitis are associated with a high rate of mortality. Meningococcal disease is commonly reported in older children and adolescents and is known to be more prevalent in community settings. In this study, a 16-day-old neonate was diagnosed with serogroup B meningococcal sepsis and meningitis. The baby was treated with antibiotics at the early stages of the infection and was discharged in good condition without any complications. This case report can serve to raise awareness of the incidence and importance of meningococcal infection in neonates, especially serogroup B.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.101-103
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• 2005

Meningococcal disease is not rarely associated with abnormalities of the complement system. We experienced a case of C9 deficiency with meningococcal meningitis from a 12-year-old girl. Identification of complement deficiency has implications for management, including family studies, prophylaxis, vaccination, and altered threshold for infection screening and treatment.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.685-688
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• 2006

The aim of this study was to characterize the molecular features of serogroup C Neisseria meningitidis strains circulating in Beijing, China. Twenty out of 23 strains belonged to ST 4821. The causative serosubtype for meningococcal meningitis was P1.12-1,16-8. All of the strains expressed class 3 PorB protein. Among the five pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns observed, pattern III predominated.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.31 no.3 s.62
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• pp.540-563
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• 1998

This Study has been carried out to make a recommendation for the next amendment of the Infectious Disease Prevention Act with a specific focus on the kind of notifyable disease. Korean, Japanese, German, U.S, English and French acts on infectious diseases prevention were reviewed, compared with and analized in regards of numbers and kinds of notifyable infectious diseases and their tendency of amendments. An criteria was designed to assess the level of validity of diseases to be designated in the act. Four items, the fatality (greater than 10% or not), the possibility to make a big epidemic, the availability of efficient vaccination and the usefulness of isolation, are used in the assessment. This index is applied to the diseases in Korean and other countries' Infectious Disease Prevention Acts. Results are as follows: 1. The Korean Infectious Disease Preventon Act has a unique way of classifying the notifyable infectious disease, that is, the first, the second and the third class. But the author cannot find the basis of classification. No other countries reviewed have the similar classification. 2. The ten diseases, cholera, plague, yellow fever, diphtheria, typhoid fever, poliomyelitis, rabies, tetanus, malaria, and meningococcal meningitis are designated as the notifyable diseases not only in Korea but also in Japan, Germany, United States, England and france. 3. Thirty seven diseases including small pox, Lassa fever, anthrax, influenza, German measles, Legionellosis, infection with E. coli O157:H7, Q-fever, brucellosis, Lyme disease are designated as legal disease at least one of the above mentioned countries. 4. The Korea has been coped with the change of the infectious disease occurrence for last fifty years in amendment of the Infectious Disease Prevention Act. 5. Japan has a special infectious surveillance system composed of 3,880 clinics throughout the whole country. 6. Germany has classified infectious diseases in five categories which are based on seriousness of disease. Any confirmed death, cases and suspected cases in class I should be reported within 24 hours. But only confirmed death and cases in class II, but not suspected cases, are reportable in Germarny. 7. Plague, bacillary dysentery, pertussis, mumps, Japanese encephaltis and Korean hemorrhagic fevers are diseases with high credits validity index among Korean legal disease. 8. German measles, anthrax, E. coli O157 : H7 infection, Lassa fever, Q-fever, brucellosis are high in validity index among those which are not designated in Korea but designated in other countries. In conclusion, the Korean Infectious Disease Prevention Act has well been coped with the changes of infectious disease occurrence for last fifty years, but the classification basis and the validity of diseases to be designated as legal diseases is worth reevaluating.