We investigated the prevalence and determinants of nasopharyngeal carriage of Neisseria meningitidis in 3200 healthy children aged 1-19 years. The incidence of meningococcal carriage was, on average, 1.5%. Peak incidences were seen at age 1 year and after age 15 years. The independent determinants of meningococcal carriage included age, regular visits to youth clubs (odds ratio [OR], 2.2) and discotheques (OR, 4.3), and pneumococcal carriage (OR, 4.1).

doi.org/10.1086/428351, hdl.handle.net/1765/56224
Clinical Infectious Diseases
Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases

Bogaert, D., Hermans, P., Boelens, H., Sluijter, M., Luijendijk, A., Rümke, H., … Verbrugh, H. (2005). Epidemiology of nasopharyngeal carriage of Neisseria meningitidis in healthy Dutch children. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 40(6), 899–902. doi:10.1086/428351