Overweight and obesity as risk factors for the asymptomatic carrier state of Neisseria meningitidis among a paediatric population

We analysed the asymptomatic carrier state of Neisseria meningitidis in a sample of 339 children. We obtained data for the children's weight and height, in order to calculate the body mass index (BMI). The cutoff points defined by Cole were employed in determining the BMI, and the population wa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases 2010-03, Vol.29 (3), p.333-334
Main Authors: Uberos, J, Molina-Carballo, A, Fernández-Puentes, V, Rodríguez-Belmonte, R, Muñoz-Hoyos, A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bacterial diseases
Bacterial diseases of the nervous system. Bacterial myositis
Biological and medical sciences
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biomedicine
Body Mass Index
Brief Report
Carrier State - microbiology
Child
Child, Preschool
Human bacterial diseases
Humans
Infectious diseases
Internal Medicine
Medical Microbiology
Medical sciences
Meningococcal Infections - microbiology
Metabolic diseases
Neisseria meningitidis
Neisseria meningitidis - isolation & purification
Obesity
Obesity - microbiology
Overweight - microbiology
Risk Factors
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Summary:We analysed the asymptomatic carrier state of Neisseria meningitidis in a sample of 339 children. We obtained data for the children's weight and height, in order to calculate the body mass index (BMI). The cutoff points defined by Cole were employed in determining the BMI, and the population was divided into three groups: normal, overweight and obese. Twenty carriers of N. meningitidis were identified. There was found to be a statistically significant trend to increased risk of being a carrier with increased BMI (z = 2.03; P = 0.04); after adjusting for age using the Mantel-Haenszel weighting method, this relationship was strengthened (z = 2.38; P = 0.01). Paediatric patients with increased BMI in the range of obesity present a three times greater risk of being carriers of N. meningitidis than non-obese patients, with a trend for this risk to increase with higher BMI.
ISSN:0934-9723
1435-4373
DOI:10.1007/s10096-009-0849-7