Prevalence of meningococcal carriage among male university students living in dormitories in Kerman, southeast of Iran.

Prevalence of meningococcal carriage among male university students living in dormitories in Kerman, southeast of Iran. Pathog Glob Health. 2018 Aug 29;:1-5 Authors: Sadeghi M, Ahmadrajabi R, Dehesh T, Saffari F Abstract Neisseria meningitidis is an important causative agent of bacterial meningitis. The nasopharynx is the only known reservoir of this organism. Although the relationship between carriage and invasive disease is not completely understood, asymptomatic meningococcal carriers are considered as the most important sources for causing strains of disease. Living in closed and overcrowded places such as university dormitories can increase the carriage rate and meningococcal disease. This cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence of N. meningitidis carriers among male students living in three dormitories affiliated with Kerman University of Medical Sciences (Kerman, Iran). Nasopharyngeal swab was taken from all participants recruited in the study. Conventional microbiological tests were performed for isolation and detection of the organism. The amplification of crgA gene was used to confirm the identity of isolates. Molecular serogrouping was used to detect the six most frequent serotypes. The overall carriage rate was 6.8% (23/335). The capsular type of these isolates was in determinate (56.5%) or of serogroup C (43.5%). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that cigarette smoking was signifi...
Source: Pathogens and Global Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Tags: Pathog Glob Health Source Type: research