title: Meningococcal carriage in children and young adults in the Philippines: a single group, cross-sectional study.
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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics,College of Medicine,University of the Philippines Manila,Manila,Philippines.
authors.forename: M L A
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Gonzales
authors.affiliation: GSK Vaccines,Wavre,Belgium.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bianco
authors.affiliation: GSK Vaccines,Wavre,Belgium.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vyse
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002353:Carrier State / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D060085:Coinfection / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008589:Meningococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D009345:Neisseria meningitidis / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010614:Pharynx / Q000382:microbiology; D010679:Philippines / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D065288:Serogroup; D013334:Students; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: 
                 Neisseria meningitidis
              ; Epidemiology