Abstract
In the period 2008-2010, 309 Neisseria meningitidis, isolated in Italy within the National Surveillance of the Invasive Meningococ- cal Diseases, have been tested for their phenotypic and genotypic characteristics. The main results obtained are: (a) an increase of the strains of serogroup B and a decrease of serogroup C; (b) a phenotypic and genotypic variability of the ST-41/44 clonal complex, the most frequently isolated among serogroup B strains; (c) a decrease of ST-8 clonal complex among serogroup C menin- gococci whereas strains belonging to ST-11 clonal complex are nowadays the most frequently isolated.
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