Factors affecting carriage of Neisseria meningitidis among Greek military recruits

Greek military recruits (993) were examined for carriage of meningococci during July 1990. Blood, saliva and throat swab specimens were obtained and each recruit answered a questionnaire providing information on age, education (a measure of socioeconomic level), place of residence, smoking habits an...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Epidemiology and infection 1992-06, Vol.108 (3), p.441-448
Main Authors: Blackwell, C. C., Tzanakaki, G., Kremastinou, J., Weir, D. M., Vakalis, N., Elton, R. A., Mentis, A., Fatouros, N.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Bacteriology
Biological and medical sciences
Blood grouping
Blood groups
Carrier State - microbiology
Cigarette smoking
Cigarettes
Disease outbreaks
Educational Status
Epidemiology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Greece
Humans
Incidence
Infections
Meningitis, Meningococcal - etiology
Meningitis, Meningococcal - microbiology
Microbiology
Military Personnel
Military recruitment
Neisseria meningitidis
Neisseria meningitidis - isolation & purification
Respiratory tract infections
Risk Factors
Smoking
Surveys and Questionnaires
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Summary:Greek military recruits (993) were examined for carriage of meningococci during July 1990. Blood, saliva and throat swab specimens were obtained and each recruit answered a questionnaire providing information on age, education (a measure of socioeconomic level), place of residence, smoking habits and recent infections. The overall carriage rate was 25% but differed between the two camps: 79/432 (18%) in Camp A and 168/561 (30%) in Camp B (P < 0·0005). In Camp B, there were significantly higher proportions of recruits who were non-secretors (P < 0·0005), and/or heavy smokers (P < 0·0005). They were also younger ( < 19 years old) (P < 0·001), and on the whole had fewer years of education (P < 0·0005). By univariate analysis, carriage was significantly associated with smoking. By multiple logistic regression analysis, carriage was associated with smoking (P < 0·001), age (P < 0·01) and the camp in which the recruits were based (P < 0·01). Among recruits in Camp B, 15/38 (40%) of those with recent viral infections were carriers compared with 30% for the camp in general.
ISSN:0950-2688
1469-4409
DOI:10.1017/S0950268800049943