{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,13]],"date-time":"2026-10-13T16:52:00Z","timestamp":1791910320323,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,21]],"date-time":"2025-03-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1742515200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Microorganisms"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) remains a major public health challenge due to its rapid progression, which may lead to severe sequelae or death in children and adolescents. Published data on IMD sequelae are limited in Greece and many EU countries. In the present study, patients under 16 years of age with IMD were retrospectively identified from the files of the Hellenic National Meningitis Reference Laboratory (HNML) from 2010\u20132020, and their medical records were tracked from the corresponding hospitals. Demographic, clinical, and microbiological data were recorded for each case. A total of 161 patients younger than 16 years of age admitted to nine hospitals across the country were identified. Of those, 91 (56.5%) records were found. The patients\u2019 median age was 36 months (range 22 days to 16 years old); 37.4% presented with meningitis, 36.2% with both septicemia and meningitis, and 26.4% only with septicemia. The mortality rate was 5.5% and was significantly associated with septicemia, abnormal platelet count at presentation, ICU admission, and coagulation disorders, while sequelae were detected in 16.9% of patients upon discharge. Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B (MenB) was the most predominant (77%); of these, 269 cc was identified (36.8%). This is the first study on unfavorable sequelae and mortality due to IMD performed in Greece.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms13040705","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,21]],"date-time":"2025-03-21T07:25:00Z","timestamp":1742541900000},"page":"705","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":10,"title":["Invasive Meningococcal Disease in Children: Outcomes and Risk Factors for Sequelae and Fatal Cases in Greece"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Panagiotis","family":"Poulikakos","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"National Meningitis Reference Laboratory, Surveillance Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, Department Public Health Policy, School of Public Health, University of West Attica, 115 21 Athens, Greece"},{"name":"Intensive Care Unit, Anticancer Hospital \u201cMetaxa\u201d, 185 37 Pireaus, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0878-7317","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dimitrios","family":"Kapnisis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, Patras Medical School, University General Hospital of Patras, 265 04 Rio, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2959-8216","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Athanasia","family":"Xirogianni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Meningitis Reference Laboratory, Surveillance Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, Department Public Health Policy, School of Public Health, University of West Attica, 115 21 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Irini","family":"Liakou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Meningitis Reference Laboratory, Surveillance Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, Department Public Health Policy, School of Public Health, University of West Attica, 115 21 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2485-4409","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maria","family":"Tsolia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Second Department of Paediatrics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, P & A Kyriakou Children\u2019s Hospital, 115 27 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1745-1118","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Athanasios","family":"Michos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"First Department of Pediatrics, Infectious Diseases and Chemotherapy Research Laboratory, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, \u2018Aghia Sophia\u2019 Children\u2019s Hospital, 115 27 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7837-9733","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Elpis","family":"Mantadakis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University General Hospital of Alexandroupolis, Democritus University, Alexandroupolis, 691 00 Thrace, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Vassiliki","family":"Papaevangelou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Third Department of Pediatrics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, University General Hospital \u201cATTIKON\u201d, 124 62 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andreas","family":"Iliadis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, University General Hospital of Patras, 265 04 Rio, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1421-0813","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Despoina","family":"Gkentzi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, Patras Medical School, University General Hospital of Patras, 265 04 Rio, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Stavroula Kostaridou","family":"Nikolopoulou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, \u201cPentelis\u201d Children\u2019s Hospital, 152 36 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maria","family":"Sdougka","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Hippokration General Hospital, 546 42 Thessaloniki, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2528-6426","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Konstantina","family":"Charisi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Third Department of Pediatrics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Hippokration General Hospital, 546 42 Thessaloniki, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Athanasios","family":"Bangeas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"First Department of Pediatrics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Hippokration General Hospital, 546 42 Thessaloniki, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5132-8255","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Evangelia","family":"Farmaki","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"First Department of Pediatrics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Hippokration General Hospital, 546 42 Thessaloniki, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1773-2833","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Georgina","family":"Tzanakaki","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Meningitis Reference Laboratory, Surveillance Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, Department Public Health Policy, School of Public Health, University of West Attica, 115 21 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Nadel, S., and Ninis, N. 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