Meningococcal carriage in children and young adults in the Philippines: a single group, cross-sectional study.
Epidemiol Infect 2016;
145:126-132. [PMID:
27655066 PMCID:
PMC9507336 DOI:
10.1017/s0950268816002119]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
This cross-sectional prevalence study investigates meningococcal carriage for the first time in a Southeast Asian population. Posterior pharyngeal swabs were collected between August 2013 and March 2014 from 937 healthy Filipinos aged 5-24 years attending school or university in Manila. Of these, 35 were found to be carriers giving an overall carriage prevalence of 3·7% [95% confidence interval (CI) 2·6-5·2]. Carriage was associated with age (P < 0·001) and was highest (9·0%, 95% CI 5·5-13·8) in subjects aged 10-14 years, but was comparatively low (<3%) in all other age groups considered. This suggests that an immunization programme in the Philippines designed to reduce carriage acquisition and induce herd immunity may require a vaccine dose before the age of 10 years. Serogroup B was most commonly carried (65·7%, 95% CI 47·8-80·9), with a small number of carriers for serogroups C, Y and W also present. Two individuals (5·7%, 95% CI 0·7-19·2) who were simultaneously carrying multiple serogroups were identified. This exploratory study provides valuable insight into the asymptomatic carriage of Neisseria meningitidis in a healthy subset of the Filipino population and illustrates the importance of generating local carriage data.
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