Diseases caused by the pathogenic Neisseria (N. gonorrhoeae and N. meningitidis) have been successfully treated with antibiotics for the past 70 years. However, a disturbing trend worldwide is the increasing prevalence of strains with resistance to inexpensive and widely available antibiotics (e.g., penicillin, tetracycline and ciprofloxacin) and the emergence of strains exhibiting decreased susceptibility to effective antibiotics that are expensive and not always available (e.g. third-generation cephalosporins and the newer macrolides).

Given the global nature of gonococcal and meningococcal diseases, the worldwide distribution of antibiotics, differing social practices in controlling and monitoring antibiotic availability, and geographical differences in treatment regimens, it is likely that the global problem of antibiotic resistance will continue (and worsen) in the foreseeable future. By understanding the mechanisms of antibiotic resistance in gonococci and meningococci, resistance to antibiotics currently in clinical practice can be anticipated and the design of novel antimicrobials to circumvent this problem can be undertaken more rationally.

A recent publication reviews the genetic and physiologic basis by which the pathogenic Neisseria developed resistance to historically important antibiotics and how resistance to newer antibiotics is emerging   read more ...

from William M. Shafer, Jason P. Folster and Robert A. Nicholas in Neisseria: Molecular Mechanisms of Pathogenesis

Labels: antibiotic resistance, meningococcal

The genus Neisseria consists of commensal species that colonize the mucosal surfaces of many animals. Of the eleven species that colonize humans, only two are pathogens. Neisseria meningitidis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae often cause asymptomatic infections, a commensal-like behavior. Most gonoccocal infections are asymptomatic and self-resolving, and epidemic strains of the meningococcus may be carried in more than 95% of a population where systemic disease occurs at less than 1% prevalence. Bacteria of the Neisseria genus are Gram-negative and are included among the proteobacteria, a large group of Gram-negative organisms. The microorganisms exist as diplococci.

Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Neisseria meningitidis are Gram-negative diplococci. N. gonorrhoeae is the causative agent of gonorrhoea and is transmitted via sexual contact. N. meningitidis is transmitted via respiratory droplets leading to colonization of the nasopharynx and can cause meningitis and septicemia.

1. Neisseria: Molecular Mechanisms of Pathogenesis
2. Microbiology books

Labels: brief notes, diplococci, gonococcus, gonorrhoea, gonorrhoeae, meningitidis, meningococcal, meningococcus, Neisseria, Neisseria gonorrhoeae