title: Serogroup C meningococcal disease outbreak associated with discotheque attendance during carnival.
abstract: In the week following a carnival during 19-24 February 1998, an outbreak of meningococcal disease occurred in a rural German county. The available isolates belonged to phenotype C:2a:P1.2,5 and were clonally related by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. A case-control study was done to identify risk factors for the outbreak and to define possible vaccination target groups. Five persons aged 13-16 years who fell ill during 24-27 February were included in the study. Four of 5 cases and 10 of 32 controls visited local discotheques (OR = 8.8; P = 0.06). Cases also visited discotheques more frequently than controls (chi2 for trend, P = 0.0002). Multiple discotheques during the carnival may have been predominant locations of transmission in this outbreak. Because this risk factor was limited in time, a mass community vaccination campaign was not initiated.
authors.affiliation: Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Hauri
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ehrhard
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Frank
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ammer
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fell
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Hamouda
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Petersen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003615:Dancing; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008589:Meningococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission; D008875:Middle Aged; D009345:Neisseria meningitidis / Q000145:classification*; D012307:Risk Factors