All the compounds were identified by spectral data In general, m

All the compounds were identified by spectral data. In general, mass spectrum showed the molecular

ion peak, which corresponds to the formula weight of the hydrazones. The elemental analyses of the compounds are in consistence with the molecular formula (Table 1). The electronic spectra of the hydrazones A1–A6 were taken in ethanol (10−3 mol−1). In the UV–Visible spectra of all these compounds the first band appeared around 257 nm was due to the π → π* transitions of the heterocyclic ring and the second one appeared around 350 nm was due to the n → π* transition of the >C]N–group. 8 FT-IR spectra showed the C]O peak around 1660 cm−1, C=N around 1560 cm−1 and the NH stretching vibrations around Compound C 3064 cm−1. The 1H NMR spectrum showed the hydrazide (NH) protons as a singlet around 12.1 ppm, the imine protons (N]C–H) around 8.3 ppm, methoxy protons around 3.8 ppm and aromatic protons in the range 6.5–8.8. The 13C NMR spectrum showed the C]O signals around 162.5, C]N signals around 150.6 ppm, Talazoparib research buy OCH3 signals around 55.5 ppm and aromatic carbon in the range 114.7–158.5 ppm. 9 Single crystals suitable for X-ray diffraction study for the hydrazone (A1) was grown from the slow evaporation of an ethanol solution at room

temperature. A pale yellow crystal of (A1) was mounted on a glass fiber and used for data collection. Crystal data was collected using graphite monochromatised Mo-Kα radiation (λ = 0.71073 Å). The structure was solved by direct method using SHELEX-97 and refined by full-matrix least-squares techniques against F2 using SHELEX-97. All the non-hydrogen atoms were refined anisotropically. A summary of pertinent crystal data along with further details of structure determination and refinement are given in Table 2. Selected bond lengths and bond angles are given in Table 3.The hydrazone crystallizes in an orthorhombic, chiral space group pbca. The single crystal

X-ray structure of A1 reveals the presence of two molecules in the unit cell. The C]N azomethine [N(3)–C(7)]-bond length 1.278 (3) Å in A1 has a double bond character. The existence of A1 in keto Linifanib (ABT-869) form in solid state is evident from the [O(1)–C(6)] bond length 1.223 (3) Å and the side chain carbonyl [O(1)-C(6)] show a typical double bond character with bond length 1.223 (3) Å.10 and 11 In this compound, there is also an intermolecular hydrogen bond (Table 4) between the N(2)–H(4) and N(1)′ [N(2)–H(4)…N(1)′, 2.225 Å] and N(2)′–H(5) and N(1) [N(2)′–H(5)…N(1), 2.202 Å], stabilize the crystal structure forming a supramolecular architecture. ORTEP view and unit cell of A1 are given in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 respectively.

À ce jour, la lutte contre l’épidémie s’intensifie, localement co

À ce jour, la lutte contre l’épidémie s’intensifie, localement comme internationalement, avec l’aide des ONG, de la Croix Rouge et des structures internationales. Sont mis en place des centres d’isolement et de traitement–traitement ERK inhibitor cost symptomatique mais qui devrait s’enrichir d’actions plus spécifiques dans le cadre d’études surveillées et si possible contrôlées. Il importe, dans toute la mesure du possible, d’éviter de transférer ces sujets très contagieux [5] et de faire au mieux pour que localement, dans les villages contaminés, soient

assurées les règles d’hygiène (avec l’utilisation de protection pour le personnel de soins) mais aussi des formations pour les habitants (notamment vis-à-vis des risques induits par les rites funéraires). Bien évidemment, cette épidémie suscite, au-delà des inquiétudes, diverses questions. D’abord et avant tout, le risque d’extension africaine : le non-contrôle dans les pays touchés,

la réapparition de cas et l’extension de foyers initiaux illustrent cette crainte. Les déplacements des populations, importantes en Afrique, facilitent le transfert du virus d’un pays à l’autre. La surveillance des cas contacts et la mise en place des http://www.selleckchem.com/products/Lapatinib-Ditosylate.html moyens de contrôle sont certes difficiles en pratique mais importantes pour maîtriser le phénomène. Ensuite les questions humaines et éthiques : les mesures d’isolement, souvent mal comprises localement, sont volontiers source de conflits et de violence, comme ceci s’est vu à Monrovia. Leur gestion par des personnels mal formés est pour le moins difficile, voire dangereuse. L’utilisation en Afrique de produits non encore suffisamment testés, avec des incertitudes sur leur efficacité et leur tolérance, est-elle légitime en ces

circonstances ? La mortalité élevée de la maladie apporte déjà un élément de réponse positive dans ce sens, mais à la condition que ces produits soient employés sous surveillance Enfin le risque d’extension en dehors de l’Afrique : des mesures ont été prises dans les aéroports d’embarquement, pour repérer d’éventuels sujets malades ; de même dans les aéroports européens comme until en France, à Roissy Charles de Gaulle, des mesures ont été prises pour qu’un sujet éventuellement malade soit isolé et pris en charge selon les règles établies déjà par le système de coordination du risque épidémique et biologique (Coreb). Le risque est en réalité très faible, le mode de transmission comme les mesures prises le réduisant considérablement. On ne peut écarter bien sûr qu’un individu contaminé en Afrique et revenu en période d’incubation ne déclare l’infection quelques temps plus tard. La notion de voyage en zone à risque et une symptomatologie fébrile compatible devraient alors attirer immédiatement l’attention et faire intervenir, selon le schéma usuel, le 15 et le Samu pour transfert en service référent. Mais ici encore le risque est faible.

Infants

aged 42–98 days were in good health as determined

Infants

aged 42–98 days were in good health as determined by medical history and physical examination. Exclusion criteria included any previous vaccination, previous anaphylactic reaction to any vaccine component, contraindication to vaccination, any clinically significant chronic disease, history of culture-confirmed N. meningitidis or N. gonorrhea infection, receipt of blood products, or impaired immunity. Parents or legal guardians of participants gave written informed consent. Subjects were to be randomly assigned to receive 1 of 4 ascending doses of the bivalent rLP2086 vaccine with routine childhood vaccines or routine vaccines only. The recombinant bivalent rLP2086 vaccine was supplied as a liquid suspension in a prefilled ready-to-use syringe. Each 0.5-mL dose OSI 744 contains 10 μg, 30 μg, 60 μg, or 100 μg of purified rLP2086 proteins from each rLP2086 MnB subfamily: strain M98 250771 (variant A05; subfamily A) and strain CDC1573 (variant B01; subfamily B). Inactive ingredients include polysorbate 80 and 0.25 mg of Al3+ as AlPO4 in histidine buffer at pH 6.0 [10]. The DTaP-Hib-HBV + IPV vaccine and Prevenar® (Pfizer Inc, New York, NY, USA) were

given concomitantly as routine childhood vaccinations in the contralateral MK-1775 purchase thigh with a 23-gauge, 1-inch needle. One of the several meningococcal C (e.g., Meningitec®, Neis-Vac®, or Menjugate®) and rotavirus (RotaTeq® or Rotarix®) vaccines were administered according to the prescribing information at 2 and 4 months of age or 2, 4, and 6 months of age (RotaTeq® only). Subjects were also scheduled to receive the varicella

and the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines; however, no subjects received these vaccinations due to early trial termination. Caregivers recorded solicited reactions 7 days postvaccination in an electronic diary. For erythema and swelling, the largest diameter was measured with a caliper and categorized as absent, mild (0.5–2.0 cm), moderate (2.5–7.0 cm), or severe (>7.0 cm). Tenderness was recorded as not discernible, present, or interfering with limb movement. For subjects who received bivalent rLP2086 vaccine, only reactions at the bivalent rLP2086 vaccine injection site were reported; reactions at the Prevenar® injection site were reported for heptaminol control subjects. Solicited systemic events included fever (absent [rectal temperature <38.0 °C], mild [38.0 °C to 39.0 °C], moderate [>39.0 °C to 40.0 °C], or severe [>40.0 °C]), irritability, increased/decreased sleep, decreased appetite, and use of antipyretic medication. Other AEs were considered unsolicited and collected throughout the study. AEs were assessed for seriousness and relationship to rLP2086. The study was terminated before the necessary samples were obtained. The safety analysis population included all subjects who received 1 dose of rLP2086. Safety data were summarized using descriptive statistics.

It is difficult to establish whether habitual physical activity i

It is difficult to establish whether habitual physical activity increases or decreases the risk of incontinence using observational studies because women with stress urinary incontinence often discontinue physical activity. The issue can only be properly resolved with randomised controlled trials. Systematic reviews on the effect of pelvic floor muscle training on stress urinary incontinence/mixed urinary

incontinence have concluded that intensive supervised training can produce clinically important effects (Dumoulin and Hay-Smith 2010, buy SB203580 Hay-Smith et al 2011, Herderschee et al 2011, Parsons et al 2012). This systematic review has demonstrated that the alternative methods of exercising pelvic floor muscles have not been convincingly shown to be effective with high quality randomised controlled trials. Thus these interventions should be considered to be in a Development or Testing phase. Accordingly, these alternative methods should not yet be used routinely, or recommended for routine use, in clinical practice (Bø and Herbert 2009). Several alternative interventions are still Akt inhibitor in the development phase (yoga, Tai Chi,

breathing exercises, posture correction, and fitness training). It will be necessary to conduct further laboratory studies investigating potential mechanisms of these interventions. Promising laboratory studies might justify further uncontrolled clinical exploration and pilot randomised studies. The patients in these studies should be fully informed of the exploratory and experimental nature of the treatment. When laboratory studies and uncontrolled clinical observations or pilot studies suggest a clinically important effect of the new alternative method, oxyclozanide it might be appropriate to commence the Testing phase and conduct high quality randomised controlled trials. Three of the alternative interventions (abdominal muscle training, the Paula method, and Pilates exercise) have been subjected to randomised controlled trials and are therefore currently in the Testing phase. Arguably, however, the Development phase for these interventions has

been insufficiently rigorous. There is not yet convincing evidence from high quality randomised trials of a clinically important effect of these interventions, so they should not yet be used routinely, or recommended for routine use, in clinical practice. As we have acknowledged before (Bø and Herbert 2009), many clinicians will feel that strict adherence to a model in which new interventions are not routinely practised until they have been demonstrated to have clinically important effects in randomised controlled trials will stifle innovation, ideas, and further development (Crosbie 2013). We argue that patients have a right to expect they will be treated with interventions that have been shown to be effective.

The use of predictive algorithms is an efficient approach to iden

The use of predictive algorithms is an efficient approach to identifying risk cut-offs for targeted interventions that allows for the inclusion of multiple risk factors (McLaren et al., 2010). These approaches have recently been developed and validated for use at the population level (Manuel et al., 2012 and Rosella et al., 2011). While risk algorithms are increasingly being used in clinical and recently in population settings, further research is needed on how to best interpret and apply risk-cut-offs click here to inform intervention

approaches. For example, it is not clear what magnitude of diabetes risk (e.g. 10-year risk ≥ 20%) would result in the greatest population benefit from a given diabetes prevention strategy. Most risk cut-offs identified from other algorithms appear arbitrary and are not designed to specifically maximize prevention outcomes. An important cut-off

attribute that is currently missing from prevention strategies is maximizing strategy effic\acy, meaning the risk level used to identify target populations balances the number of individuals targeted with the potential benefit. In addition, few studies have directly examined how dispersion and concentration of diabetes risk in the population can influence the impact of a given strategy. The objectives of this study are to demonstrate how the dispersion of risk in the population, measured by the Gini coefficient, is correlated with the population risk of diabetes and to generate empiric risk cut-offs based on a validated risk score in order to maximize the population benefit as measured by absolute risk reduction in the population. selleck screening library We first updated an existing validated risk prediction algorithm for incident diabetes, referred herein as DPoRT 2.0. DPoRT is a statistical model based on the Weibull survival distribution and is validated to calculate up to 10-year

diabetes risk in any population-based data that contains Montelukast Sodium self-reported risk factor information on age, height and weight, ethnicity, education, immigrant status, hypertension, self-reported heart disease, income, smoking and sex for those age 20 years and older and who are currently without diabetes. The original risk algorithm was based on a cohort of individuals 19,861 ≥ 20 years of age without diabetes followed between 1996 and 2005 and validated in two external cohorts in Ontario (N = 26,465) and Manitoba (N = 9899). Full details of development and validation can be found in a previous study (Rosella et al., 2011). DPoRT 2.0 follows the same methodology with updated coefficients based on more recent data including individuals from the original 1996 Ontario cohort and the Ontario respondents of Cycle 1.1 (2001) and 2.1 (2003) of the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) linked to the Ontario Diabetes Database (ODD) with follow-up until 2011 (Hux and Ivis, 2005) resulting in a total sample size of 69,606 individuals and 667,337 person-years of follow-up. DPORT 2.

, 2012, Bize et al , 2007 and Hamer and Stamatakis, 2010), and em

, 2012, Bize et al., 2007 and Hamer and Stamatakis, 2010), and emotion and mood (Stathopoulou et al., 2006). Some studies Selleckchem GSK1120212 suggest a dose–response relationship (Dunn et al., 2005 and Hamer et al., 2009). This evidence is primarily drawn from studies examining associations with recreational physical activity, rather than more routine activities such as walking and cycling to work (‘active commuting’) (Mutrie and Faulkner, 2004). Qualitative research suggests that choice of travel mode may affect wellbeing (Guell and Ogilvie,

2013 and Hiscock et al., 2002) and the nature and intensity of active commuting (AC) may differ from that of recreational physical activity. For example, AC is often solitary and may be experienced as less enjoyable and more stressful than leisure activities. This study uses a validated self-report measure of health-related quality of life (SF-8) to explore the relationship between AC and physical and mental wellbeing in a sample of working adults. This analysis uses cross-sectional data from the Commuting and Health in Cambridge study, which has previously been described in detail in Ogilvie et al. (2010). The

study was set in the city of Cambridge, UK (approximate population: 108,000) and the surrounding area. Commuters aged 16 and over were recruited from multiple CH5424802 manufacturer workplaces in the city. Between May and October 2009, participants completed postal questionnaires covering their travel behaviour, physical activity and wellbeing. The Hertfordshire Research Ethics Committee granted ethical approval and participants provided written informed others consent. Physical and mental wellbeing summary variables were derived from responses to the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form (SF-8). This comprises

eight ordinal response questions asking about participants’ physical and mental health in the last 4 weeks (general health, physical functioning, role physical, bodily pain, vitality, social functioning, role emotional, and mental health). These were used to create physical (PCS) and mental (MCS) summary scores, which were then scaled to population norms using the methods described in Ware et al. (2001). Time spent actively commuting was derived using an instrument to record participants’ self-reported travel to and from work over the previous seven days (Panter et al., 2011) based on a measure shown to have acceptable test-retest reliability (Shannon et al., 2006). Although the exposure was assessed over a different time period (seven days) than that for the outcome (four weeks), the typical weekly cyclical pattern of AC probably makes a seven-day measure more accurate and less susceptible to recall bias. The distribution of AC was heavily skewed: many participants reported little or no time spent actively commuting.

In addition, we do not know if people who are unable to perform i

In addition, we do not know if people who are unable to perform imagery at baseline are able to learn to do so. In this study, we did not find differences between embedded mental practice and current standard of care with relaxation. The working mechanisms for mental practice interventions in Parkinson’s disease are based

on evidence from sports and fundamental clinical research performed over the last 10 years in patients with different pathologies, mainly stroke (Dickstein and Deutsch 2007, Feltz and Landers 1988). Since mental practice is a relatively new treatment in patients with Parkinson’s disease, it seems important to adjust GABA receptor activation and develop the intervention to the specifics of this population and the individual abilities (Craig et al 2008). Further research is needed to study underlying mechanisms of why mental practice works in some patients and does not in others. The mental practice intervention should be tested to determine the optimal content and dose. None declared. eAddenda: Available at jop.physiotherapy.asn.au Table 4. Ethics: The Atrium, Orbis medical concern, HsZuyd (The Netherlands) Ethics Committee approved this study. Enzalutamide clinical trial All participants gave written informed consent

before data collection began. Acknowledgements: We thank all involved therapists and patients for participating in the trial. We appreciate the help of Marieke Spreeuwenberg, PhD, Zuyd University of Applied Sciences, with the statistical analysis. “
“Exercise is recognised as an important component of overall treatment for people with cystic fibrosis (Bradley and Moran 2008, Hebestreit et al 2010, Williams et al 2010). Benefits of regular exercise in this population include enhanced mucus clearance

(Salh et al 1989, Bilton et al 1992), increased respiratory muscle endurance, decreased breathlessness ADP ribosylation factor (O’Neill et al 1987), and increased cardiorespiratory fitness (Hebestreit et al 2010, van Doorn 2010, Shoemaker et al 2008). Other reported benefits include improved body image through increased muscle mass and strength (Sahlberg et al 2008) and promotion of emotional well being and perceived health (Selvadurai et al 2002, Hebestreit et al 2010). With a lack of exercise training potentially leading to increasing severity of lung disease and a reduced ability to perform everyday tasks (Bradley and Moran 2008), it is imperative that strategies to maximise adherence with treatment regimens are investigated. Adults with cystic fibrosis typically have low long-term adherence to their often complex treatment regimen, including chest physiotherapy and exercise, despite being aware of its importance (Myers 2009). Various factors have been shown to influence adherence to both exercise and chest physiotherapy including the degree to which a person is worried about their disease (Abbott et al 1996), their gender, the perceived burden of the treatment (Myers 2009), being too busy, and not being bothered (White et al 2007).

44 and 49 There are 1000 registered miRNAs which are predicted

44 and 49 There are 1000 registered miRNAs which are predicted PCI-32765 ic50 in plants and regulate hundreds of genes, many of which are transcription factors that in turn regulate multiple genes (http://miRNA.sanger.ac.uk/). The ancient miRNA miR-396

regulates seven GROWTH-REGULATING FACTOR (GRF), a plant specific family of transcription factors, which regulate cell expansion, cotyledon,44 size of the meristem50 and cell proliferation in Arabidopsis leaves. 51 Additionally, reduced cell proliferation process in developing leaves by the regulation of miR-396 is noted through the suppression of GRF activity and a decrease in the expression of cell cycle genes. Moreover, miR-396 promotes a moderate increase in organ size. 50 Plants deficient of miR-172 regulate floral homeotic gene, APETALA2, have altered patterns of floral organ development through translational inhibition. 44 Similarly, Mallory et al 52 suggested developmental role for miR-164 directed regulation of NAC-domain genes, which encodes a family www.selleckchem.com/products/gsk1120212-jtp-74057.html of transcription factors CUP-SHAPED COTYLEDON1, which regulates normal embryonic, vegetative and floral development. Moreover, in plant biology the miRNA regulates more targets such as ATP sulfurylases, laccases and

superoxide dismutases. 44 miRNAs and their important role in interaction with the target genes analysis in biological system, has support a great potential for the development in current diagnostic and therapeutic strategies in the management of human diseases. And, to understand the because gene regulation in various biological systems. All authors have none to declare. “
“Radioiodine is an efficient treatment in Graves’ disease. Some centers give patients ablative doses, whereas in others, treatment purpose is to recover euthyroidism. However, even in this second case, hypothyroidim can occur precociously, during the first year after radioiodine. Radioinduced thyroiditis appears to be the main mechanism involved in the pathogenesis of precocious hypothyroidism.


“Des cas groupés de coqueluche impliquant des soignants sont régulièrement signalés dans des collectivités à risque comme les maternités. Les recommandations vaccinales vis-à-vis de la coqueluche étaient mal connues des professionnels de santé, y compris des médecins du travail. “
“La grossesse est une période de bouleversements de l’organisme. Les modifications physiologiques de la grossesse sont polymorphes. “
“Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCMP) is a progressive disease of heart muscle that is characterized by ventricular chamber enlargement with normal left ventricular wall thickness, systolic dysfunction and with or without diastolic dysfunction.1 Dilated cardiomyopathy is the third most common cause of heart failure with a prevalence of 36.5 per 100,000 in a population based study.

The finding fits with the idea that a Th-1 type response is predo

The finding fits with the idea that a Th-1 type response is predominant following vaccination [28] but contrasts with previous studies of cytotoxic T-cell activity during measles or after vaccination which reveal this response High Content Screening to be mainly due to CD8 T-cells [30]. Stimulation with 20-mer rather than shorter peptides may have favoured a CD4 T-cell response

particularly in very young children. Early two dose schedules of measles vaccine given at 6 and 9 months of age were recommended by WHO to control outbreaks and for use in countries with high attack rates of measles in infancy. Now WHO recommends such schedules in areas with a high incidence of HIV and measles [31]. However once measles is controlled in endemic areas the proportion of vaccinated mothers who have low levels of measles antibody will increase along with the proportion of unprotected infants. At present such children can only be protected by raising herd protection by supplemental measles vaccinations.

http://www.selleckchem.com/products/incb28060.html Others have argued that if measles is to be eliminated and ultimately eradicated it would be better to strengthen routine services to achieve high coverage before deploying mass immunization [32] and [33]. An early two dose schedule would fit well into this scheme: it protects the very young [5] and the HIV infected [34], increases coverage [4] and enhances child survival [6]. Additional doses could be given if outbreaks occur or if measles is to be eliminated or eradicated. We thank Sally Savage and her staff for their staunch support at Sukuta Health Centre; MRC field workers for their expertise in the field and clinic; Elisha Roberts, Chilel Sanyang and Matt Cotten for skilled help in the laboratory and Sarah Crozier for statistical analyses. Conflict of interest statement: None reported. Funding: This work was

supported by the Medical Research Council (UK) as part of a 5 year program grant from 2007 to 2011. Grant number SCC 948. “
“BCG (Bacille Calmette–Guérin), derived from Mycobacterium bovis in 1926 [1], is the most widely administered vaccine in the world, with 90.8% global coverage in 2009 [2]. Several phenotypically diverse strains are in use, arising from independent subculture of attenuated mycobacteria in laboratories across the world Metalloexopeptidase [3], [4] and [5]. Reported efficacy of BCG has varied considerably, ranging from 0 to 80% [6], [7] and [8], with tropical countries reporting lower protection against tuberculosis [8] and [9]. Several factors that vary with latitude may alter BCG potency, including exposure to environmental mycobacteria [6] and other common infections in the tropics [10]. Although BCG strain alone cannot account for the extent of variation in efficacy [8], it may account for some of the variation observed in common clinical and immunological outcomes used in research, such as BCG scarring and cytokine responses.

Lethality of sepsis is over 20% in children [6] and [7] Preventi

Lethality of sepsis is over 20% in children [6] and [7]. Prevention is therefore a priority. Thirteen different serotypes

are known, but, as known, most invasive meningococcal disease is caused by one of six capsular groups A, B, C, W135, X and Y. Excellent conjugate vaccines have been licensed so far. In Italy, since the introduction of conjugate meningococcal C vaccine (MenC), a rapid and sustained reduction in the incidence of invasive MenC disease across all age groups occurred [8] and [9]. As a consequence, capsular group B (MenB) has become responsible for most cases [7] and [9]. A vaccine against group Ceritinib B has recently been licensed in Europe and other vaccines are under study; preliminary data regarding immunogenicity and safety are promising both in infants and adolescents or adults [10] and [11]. With the aim to provide broader cross-protection, vaccines under development include highly conserved subcapsular proteins such as PorA, variants of factor H binding protein (fHbp), Neisserial Heparin binding Antigen (NHBA) and Neisserial adhesin A (NadA) [1]. In order to plan an effective vaccination schedule, it is important to know when the greatest burden of meningococcal B disease occurs and if vaccine prevention should be done during the SKI-606 supplier first year of life or later. The aim of the present study is therefore to describe the epidemiology of

invasive meningococcal B disease across pediatric

age groups so to define the optimal age for vaccination. This observational, retrospective, cohort study was designed to evaluate the distribution of meningococcal B invasive disease cases across age groups in children admitted with a clinical suspicion of community-acquired meningitis or sepsis to Pediatric Hospitals or Pediatric wards of general hospitals in Italy from December 2006 to December 2012. This study was a part of a prospective study aimed at obtaining epidemiological and clinical data of Italian children with invasive bacterial diseases [12]. Hospitals Olopatadine from all Italian regions were invited to participate (see Table A, provided as supplementary file, for the characteristic of the participating hospitals). Bacterial meningitis was suspected in the presence of at least two of the following clinical signs: bulging fontanelle, drowsiness or irritability, opisthotonus, neck stiffness, vomit or seizures [13] A bacterial meningitis case was defined when clinical signs were associated to the positivity of RT-PCR (Realtime Polymerase Chain Reaction) and/or blood or CSF (Cerebral Spinal Fluid) culture for a bacterium. Meningococcal meningitis was defined by the presence of clinical suspicion together with chemical CSF tests and the positivity of culture or RT-PCR on CSF for N. meningitidis. Meningococcal meningitis was defined associated to sepsis when RT-PCR was positive for N.