NEISSERIA MENINGITIDIS CARRIER RATE AMONG

Background: Meningococcal diseases have been recognized as an important problem in military population. Most patients with meningococcal diseases have not had a direct contact with other similar patients. Thus, asymptomatic carrier is presumably the major source of transmission of pathogenic strains. Objective: To determine the carrier rate of the newly-arrived recruits to a military center and to find out the sensitivity pattern of the isolated strains. Methods: One thousand four hundred and fifty-six tonsilopharyngeal samples were collected during a 15-month period from 2002 through 2003. All the samples were plated on chocolate agar supplemented with 3 mg/L vancomycin and 2 mg/L amphotericin B. Meningococci were identified by a standard method. Sero-grouping of part of isolated strains was carried out by the slide agglutination test. The antibiotic resistance was measured by the broth macrodilution method with penicillin, rifampicin, and ciprofloxacin. Sensitivity of part of isolated strains against two antiseptic solutions, chlorhexidine and eucalyptus inhaler, were also tested. Results: The mean of meningococcal carrier rate in 4+1 seasons was 11.4 % for the newly-arrived recruits. After 1 – 2 months, it raised to 33%. Increases observed in cold seasons wer