Diversity of meningococci associated with invasive meningococcal disease in the Republic of Ireland over a 19 year period, 1996-2015

This study examined the capsular phenotype and genotype of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD)-associated Neisseria meningitidis recovered in the Republic of Ireland (RoI) between 1996 and 2015. This time period encompasses both pre- (when IMD was hyperendemic in the RoI) and post- meningococcal serogroup C conjugate (MCC) vaccine introduction. In total, 1327 isolates representing over one-third of all laboratory-confirmed cases of IMD diagnosed each epidemiological year (EY), were characterised. Serogroups B (menB) and C (menC) predominated throughout, although their relative abundance changed; with an initial increase in the proportion of menC in the late 1990s followed by their dramatic reduction post-MCC vaccine implementation and a concomitant dominance of menB, despite an overall decline in IMD incidence. While the increase in menC was associated with expansion of specific clonal-complexes (cc), cc11 and cc8; the dominance of menB was not. There was considerable variation in menB-associated cc with declines in cc41/44 and cc32, and increases in cc269 and cc461, contributing to a significant increase in the clonal diversity of menB isolates over the study. This increase in diversity was also displayed among the serosubtyping data, with significant declines in proportions of menB isolates expressing p1.4 and p1.15 antigens. These data highlight the changing diversity of IMD-associated meningococci since 1996 in the RoI and emphasise the need for on-going surveillance particularly in view of the recent introduction of a menB vaccine.