Carriers of Meningococci among Norwegian Naval Recruits

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Abstract
Throat cultures were made from 837 Norwegian naval recruits when they entered their basic military training, in April 1969. The meningococcal carrier rate was 43.4%. The carrier rate in recruits coming from different parts of the country differed considerably, varying between 29.1% in inland cities in Eastern Norway, and 54.2% in rural areas at the western coast After 5 weeks of service the carrier rate had increased to 51.4%. Serogroup B was the most frequent, accounting for 53.2% of the strains isolated on admission. Different training programmes or living conditions had no influence upon the carrier rate. On admission, 4 strains, all of them group B, were resistant to sulphonamides. During the training period, the susceptibility to sulphonamides decreased slightly.