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Carriage of Neisseria meningitidis: investigations in a military establishment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2009

J. V. S. Pether ,
N. F. Lightfoot ,
R. J. D. Scott ,
J. Morgan ,
A. P. Steele-Perkins  and
S. C. Sheard
J. V. S. Pether
Affiliation:
Public Health Laboratory Service, Taunton and Somerset Hospitals, Musgrove Park Branch, Taunton, Somerset, TA1 5DB
N. F. Lightfoot
Affiliation:
Public Health Laboratory Service, Taunton and Somerset Hospitals, Musgrove Park Branch, Taunton, Somerset, TA1 5DB
R. J. D. Scott
Affiliation:
Public Health Laboratory Service, Taunton and Somerset Hospitals, Musgrove Park Branch, Taunton, Somerset, TA1 5DB
J. Morgan
Affiliation:
Public Health Laboratory Service, Taunton and Somerset Hospitals, Musgrove Park Branch, Taunton, Somerset, TA1 5DB
A. P. Steele-Perkins
Affiliation:
Royal Naval Air Station, Yeovilton, Somerset, BA22 8HT
S. C. Sheard
Affiliation:
Royal Naval Air Station, Yeovilton, Somerset, BA22 8HT
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Summary

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A prevalence study of personnel on a Royal Naval Air Station revealed that 23·0% of 2479 personnel were carrying a meningococcus. Selected groups of personnel were subsequently swabbed monthly for a year. We have shown that it is only by repeated swabbing and the use of optimal methods including enrichment media that one can have a hope of identifying the ‘true’ carriage rate. A presumed virulent strain of Neisseria meningitidis B 15 P1·16 was repeatedly isolated from three personnel who remained well, as did their colleagues both at their work place and socially. The study served to emphasize our lack of knowledge of the virulence factors associated with N. meningitidis.

Type
Special Article
Information
Epidemiology & Infection , Volume 101 , Issue 1 , August 1988 , pp. 21 - 42
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1988

References

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