Meningococcal Disease, 1965

Within the last two years there have been many isolations of sulfonamide-resistant meningococci from military and civilian populations. This probably reflects the current prevalence of groups B and C. There is evidence that these serotypes had varying degrees of resistance more than 20 years ago. There is no good evidence that group-A strains, which usually produce the major epidemics, are resistant to any significant degree. Drugresistant organisms make mass prophylaxis with sulfonamides impossible, but the treatment of individual patients is not affected. This means that for treatment, reliance should be placed primarily upon antibiotics, especially penicillin G.