[Clinical features of meningococcal infection in subjects with deficient terminal components of complement].

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate clinical characteristics of meningococcal disease (MD) in individuals with terminal complement component deficiency (TCCD) who are thousands times more susceptible to MD than complement-sufficient persons.

METHODS

61 cases of MD in TCCD patients and 200 randomly selected cases of MD in complement-sufficient patients were analyzed.

RESULTS

Meningitis without meningococcemia accounted for 17% of the MD episodes in the control group of complement-sufficient patients but none in individuals with TCCD who had meningococcemia (10%) or meningococcemia with meningitis (90%). Moderate disease predominated in patients with TCCD (70%) and no episodes of fatal disease were noted, whereas severe disease was more common in the control group which had an 8% case fatality rate and frequent complications such as endotoxic shock (15% of episodes) and brain edema (26%). The severity of the disease in TCCD patients did not differ between the first and subsequent episodes, between males and females, between episodes caused by serogroup A and B meningococci, etc.

CONCLUSIONS

In comparison to complement-sufficient persons, the course of the disease in patients with TCCD is statistically less severe.