Association of Neisseria cinerea with ocular infections in paediatric patients

Twenty-two strains of Neisseria cinerea were recovered from paediatric patients over a 7-year period and forwarded to the Microbial Diseases Laboratory for biochemical identification and/or confirmation. Eighteen of these 22 strains (82%) were recovered from the eyes of very young children (< or = 1 year), > 50% occurring during the neonatal period. The majority of eye isolates were involved in a variety of ocular infections including orbital cellulitis, conjunctivitis, and eye discharge (most common); in four of the 13 instances (31%) where laboratory data was available, Neisseria cinerea was recovered in pure culture. Neisseria cinerea isolates were often submitted to the Microbial Diseases Laboratory as possible 'N. gonorrhoeae' or 'Neisseria species' due to problems resulting from the use of commercial assays or unfamiliarity with the organism. These observations indicate that N. cinerea can produce eye infections in very young children, who presumably acquire this organism vertically from the mother during birth. Accurate identification of N. cinerea in such infants can preclude the social trauma and possible legal ramifications which can initially result from its misidentification as N. gonorrhoeae.