title: Secretor status, smoking and carriage of Neisseria meningitidis.
abstract: A survey of ABO blood groups, secretor status and smoking habits among 389 students and staff of a school in which there was an outbreak of meningococcal disease found no difference in the distribution of the ABO blood groups but a significantly higher proportion of non-secretors (37.6%) in the population examined compared with that reported for previous surveys of the neighbouring population in Glasgow (26.2%) (P less than 0.0005). There was also a significantly higher proportion of non-secretors among carriers of meningococci (47%) compared with non-carriers (32%). Increased carriage of meningococci among non-secretors might contribute to the increased susceptibility of individuals with this genetic characteristic to meningococcal disease observed in previous studies. Although passive exposure to cigarette smoke has been associated with meningococcal disease, there was no association between passive smoking and carriage. There was, however, a significant association between active smoking and carriage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bacteriology, University of Edinburgh.
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Blackwell
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Weir
authors.forename: V S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: James
authors.forename: W T
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Todd
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Banatvala
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Chaudhuri
authors.forename: H G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Gray
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Thomson
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Fallon
mesh_terms: D000017:ABO Blood-Group System; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002353:Carrier State / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007983:Lewis Blood Group Antigens; D008297:Male; D008589:Meningococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics; D012606:Scotland / Q000453:epidemiology; D012907:Smoking; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution
chemical_list: D000017:ABO Blood-Group System; D007983:Lewis Blood Group Antigens; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution