A cluster of invasive meningococcal disease in young men who have sex with men in Berlin, October 2012 to May 2013

U Marcus; U Vogel; A Schubert; H Claus; J Baetzing-Feigenbaum; W Hellenbrand; O Wichmann

doi:10.2807/1560-7917.ES2013.18.28.20523

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A cluster of invasive meningococcal disease in young men who have sex with men in Berlin, October 2012 to May 2013
U Marcus¹ , U Vogel² , A Schubert³ , H Claus² , J Baetzing-Feigenbaum³ , W Hellenbrand¹ , O Wichmann¹
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Affiliations: ¹ Department for Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany ² University of Würzburg, Institute for Hygiene and Microbiology and National Reference Laboratory for Meningococci, Würzburg, Germany ³ Infectious Disease Protection and Epidemiology Unit, State Office for Health and Social Affairs (LAGeSo), Federal State of Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Correspondence:
U Marcus
marcusu rki.de
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Citation style for this article: Marcus U, Vogel U, Schubert A, Claus H, Baetzing-Feigenbaum J, Hellenbrand W, Wichmann O. A cluster of invasive meningococcal disease in young men who have sex with men in Berlin, October 2012 to May 2013. Euro Surveill. 2013;18(28):pii=20523. https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES2013.18.28.20523 Received: 08 Jul 2013

Abstract

Between October 2012 and May 2013, five cases of invasive meningococcal disease in young men who have sex with men (MSM) living in Berlin were notified to local health authorities in Germany. Three of the five cases died. All were caused by serogroup C variants with the finetype P1.5-1,10-8:F3-6. Awareness was increased through the use of community networks; an extension of the existing vaccination recommendation to all MSM is currently being considered.