Outcome of Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C infection in a small outbreak of disease

Shortly after the return from an icehockey training camp one out of 14 team members was hospitalized suffering from meningococcal disease (MD). The next day another boy was hospitalized for the same reason. The first of the two patients had a rapid evolution of disease with septicemia and high levels of plasma endotoxin. The other suffered from a lighter disease with protracted development and low plasma levels of endotoxin. In both cases meningococci were isolated from blood cultures. Among the remaining healthy team mates, three were pharyngeal carriers of meningococci. All isolated strains were N. meningitidis serogroup C; serotype 2a: P1.2. Analysis of restriction enzyme (Hindlll) digests of bacterial DNA confirmed that the strains were identical.