Invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) cases dropped throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, but rebounded with genotypically distinct strains, according to results published in BMC Infectious Diseases. Muhamed-Kheir Taha, MD, PhD, and colleagues utilized a large national database to identify IMD cases from 2015 to 2022. The results showed a notable increase in non-meningeal forms of IMD, such as bacteremic meningococcal pneumonia (6% of all IMD forms) and bacteremic abdominal forms (8% of all IMD forms). These specific forms of IMD were significantly linked to serogroups Y and W, respectively, in older adults for bacteremic pneumonia and in young adults for bacteremic abdominal presentations. Further, these IMD forms were significantly associated with earlier mortality and clonal complexes 23, 11, and 9316. “The increase in atypical IMD forms may lead to higher burden of IMD due to delayed diagnosis and management,” Dr. Taha and colleagues wrote
