title: Genotype-specific carriage of Neisseria meningitidis in Georgia counties with hyper- and hyposporadic rates of meningococcal disease.
abstract: Carriage of Neisseria meningitidis in a Georgia county with hypersporadic incidence of meningococcal disease ("hypersporadic county") and in a county with no cases of meningococcal disease was determined by a cross-sectional pharyngeal culture study of high school students. Among 2730 students from whom culture samples were obtained, meningococcal carriage was 7.7% (140/1818) in the hypersporadic county and 6.1% (56/912) in the comparison county. Carriage rates by serogroup and genetic type (i.e., electrophoretic type [ET]) did not differ significantly between counties, but apartment or mobile home residency was a risk factor for carriage in the hypersporadic county. Although most cases of meningococcal disease in the hypersporadic county were caused by members of the serogroup C ET-37 clonal group, no ET-37 meningococcal isolates were recovered from carriers in this county. However, 38% of all meningococcal isolates recovered from carriers in both counties were members of the serogroup Y ET-508 clonal group, an emerging cause of meningococcal disease in Georgia and throughout the United States during 1996-2001. Shifts in carriage and transmission of meningococcal strains with different pathogenic potential are important determinants of meningococcal disease incidence.
authors.affiliation: Division of Public Health, Georgia Public Health Laboratory, Georgia Department of Human Resources, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, USA.
authors.forename: Scott E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Kellerman
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: McCombs
authors.forename: Marsha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ray
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Baughman
authors.forename: Michael W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Reeves
authors.forename: Tanja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Popovic
authors.forename: Nancy E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Rosenstein
authors.forename: Monica M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Farley
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Blake
authors.forename: David S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Stephens
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002353:Carrier State / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D005845:Georgia / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008585:Meningitis, Meningococcal / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009345:Neisseria meningitidis / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010614:Pharynx / Q000382:microbiology; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012307:Risk Factors; D012703:Serotyping; D013334:Students