Mass antibiotic treatment to stop an outbreak of meningococcal disease: a molecular analysis.
The occurrence of three cases of meningococcal disease among children in a small community, two of whom attended the same day-care centre, prompted a programme of mass antibiotic prophylaxis. Nasopharyngeal and throat swabs were obtained on three occasions from all children registered at the day-care centre. Serogroup B Neisseria meningitidis was isolated from 13 of 61 children before prophylaxis, from three children after 2 weeks, and from 19 children after 3 months. Repetitive extragenic palindromic PCR analysis identified several meningococcal strains before treatment, one of which became predominant after 3 months. Mass antibiotic prophylaxis initially suppressed meningococcal carriage, but the carriage rate subsequently rebounded.
Katz
L H
LH
Medical Corps, Israel Defense Forces, Aviv, Israel. liorshlomit@yahoo.com
Zelazny
A
A
Scharf
S
S
Hourvitz
A
A
Asor
N
N
Arbeli
Y
Y
Yust-Katz
S
S
Smollan-Fredman
G
G
Gdalevich
M
M
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019072:Antibiotic Prophylaxis; D002648:Child; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D008589:Meningococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D009345:Neisseria meningitidis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents