Meningococcal disease at the University of Southampton: outbreak investigation

In October 1997, an outbreak of meningococcal disease occurred at the University of Southampton. All six cases were first year students living in halls of residence. Microbiological characterization of case and carrier strains, case interviews, and a meningococcal carriage prevalence survey were use...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Epidemiology and infection 1999-10, Vol.123 (2), p.185-192
Main Authors:	GILMORE, A., JONES, G., BARKER, M., SOLTANPOOR, N., STUART, J. M.
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	Adolescent Adult Age Factors Bacterial diseases Bacterial diseases of the nervous system. Bacterial myositis Bacteriology Biological and medical sciences British Isles, England Carrier State - microbiology College students Disease Outbreaks Diseases England - epidemiology Epidemiology Female Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology Human bacterial diseases Humans Infectious diseases Male Medical sciences Meningococcal Infections - epidemiology Meningococcal Infections - transmission Microbiology Neisseria meningitidis Neisseria meningitidis - classification Neisseria meningitidis - isolation & purification Nightclubs Place of residence Predisposing factors Preventive medicine Public health Sex Factors Universities
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Summary:	In October 1997, an outbreak of meningococcal disease occurred at the University of Southampton. All six cases were first year students living in halls of residence. Microbiological characterization of case and carrier strains, case interviews, and a meningococcal carriage prevalence survey were used to investigate the outbreak. Five cases were due to serogroup C strains, one case was unconfirmed. Serotyping did not distinguish between the strains but gene sequencing permitted identification of two distinct strains in the outbreak. Although none of the cases was known to each other, three had attended the same nightclub one evening 3–4 days before illness. Meningococcal carriage rates in undergraduates were within the range expected (147/587, 25%), but no carriers of outbreak strains were identified in this sample. The findings suggest that in communities with a high degree of social interaction, the introduction of highly virulent meningococcal strains may result in enhanced transmission with clustering of cases.
ISSN:	0950-2688 1469-4409