epidemiological study of meningococcal carriers in an Egyptian village

ABSTRACT

This work was a cross-sectional study conducted in 1991 to assess the carrier rate of meningococci among students in El-Aslougy village [in Sharkia governorate]. The study included 200 students aged from 6 to 14 years old chosen from three schools in the village. Fifty students were chosen randomly from grade one, third, fifth and seventh grade. The prevalence rate of meningitis carriers was 5 percent [2.5 percent serotype A, 2 percent serotype C and 0.5 percent, serotype B]. All strains were sensitive to rifampicin, chloramphenicol and penicillin G. All were resistant to sulphonamides. Carriers were more prevalent among children from 6 to less than 8 year with no sex difference. There was a significant association between carrier rate and family size. The bigger is the family the higher is the carrier rate. A higher carrier rate was detected also in houses with crowdness index >3 [more than 3 individuals per room] and in the primary school where 4 pupils sit on the same desk with narrow distances between desks. The window area in the classroom was smaller than the standards and the number of water taps per students was 25 percent of the standards. Meningitis carriers were affected more by tonsillitis and bronchitis than non-carriers but there was insignificant difference as regards previous history of meningitis vaccination