Pharyngeal carriage of Neisseria meningitidis in 2–19-year-old individuals in Uganda

Domimique A. Caugant, Carole Fogg, Francis Bajunirwe, Patrice Piola, Roger Twesigye, Fred Mutebi, L. Oddvar Froholm, Einar Rosenqvist, Vincent Batwala, Ingeborg S. Aaberge, John-Arne Rottingen, Philippe J. Guerin

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    In southern Uganda, only sporadic cases of serogroup A meningococcal disease have been reported since 2000. As part of an immunogenicity study of the tetravalent meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine, nasopharyngeal swab samples were collected twice, 4 weeks apart, from 2–19-year-old healthy individuals in Mbarara, Uganda. Only 15 (2.0%) of the 750 individuals carried meningococci asymptomatically. Most of the strains were non-serogroupable and none were serogroup A. However, two individuals carried a serogroup W135 strain, sequence type (ST)-11, similar to the clone that was responsible for the epidemic in Burkina Faso in 2002. Our study further demonstrates the geographical spread of serogroup W135 ST-11 strain and thus the potential epidemic risk.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1159-1163
    JournalTransactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
    Volume100
    Issue number12
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Dec 2006

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