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Meningococcal meningitis and carriage in western Zaire: A hypoendemic zone related to climate?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2009

J. S. Cheesbrough ,
A. P. Morse  and
S. D. R. Green
J. S. Cheesbrough*
Affiliation:
Tropical Microbiology Centre, Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Liverpool
A. P. Morse
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Liverpool
S. D. R. Green
Affiliation:
Department of Paediatrics, Institut Médical Evangélique, Kimpese, Republic of Zaire
*
*Dr J. S. Cheesbrough, Department of Microbiology, Blackburn Royal Infirmary, Bolton Road, Blackburn BB2 3LR, UK.
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Summary

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An analysis of bacteria recovered from cerebrospinal fluid over a 16-year period at a rural hospital in western Zaire showed that Neisseria meningitidis accounted for only five (2·2%) isolates. A survey of naso-pharyngeal colonisation with N. meningitidis in 378 healthy children was undertaken to distinguish whether this low frequency was due to lack of carriage or, by inference, lack of the co-factors necessary to permit invasive disease. N. meningitidis was recovered from only three (0·78%) of the children. All isolates were non-typable strains of low pathogenicity.

A review of studies examining the aetiology of bacterial meningitis and the geographical location of epidemics of meningococcal meningitis in and around Zaire reveals a ‘hypoendemic zone’, the limits of which correlate well with the area in which mean absolute humidity remains above 10 g m−3 of air throughout the year. Continuous high absolute humidity appears to reduce the transmission of meningococci.

Type
Special Article
Information
Epidemiology & Infection , Volume 114 , Issue 1 , February 1995 , pp. 75 - 92
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

References

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