Lack of immunity in university students before an outbreak of serogroup C meningococcal infection

Jones, Graeme R., Williams, Jeanette N., Christodoulides, Myron, Jolley, Keith and Heckels, John E. (2000) Lack of immunity in university students before an outbreak of serogroup C meningococcal infection. Journal of Infectious Diseases, 181 (3), 1172-1175. (doi:10.1086/315352). (PMID:10720549)

Abstract

Immunity to meningococci was determined in infected and uninfected students before and during an outbreak of serogroup C meningococcal infection at a university in the United Kingdom. No immunity against the outbreak strain was detected in serum taken from infected students prior to the outbreak or at the time of admission; bactericidal activity developed during convalescence. Carriage of all strains of serogroup C meningococci in asymptomatic students was low (0.9%), and no carriage of the outbreak strain could be detected. Immunity in the at-risk student population before the outbreak was low: 90% of students had no significant bactericidal activity against the outbreak strain. A low prevalence of carriage of the outbreak strain, together with a low prevalence of protective immunity within the student population, was associated with a high incidence of invasive disease in those who acquired the outbreak strain.

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Contributors

Author: Myron Christodoulides

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