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Volume 12, Number 6—June 2006
Research

Social Behavior and Meningococcal Carriage in British Teenagers

Jenny MacLennan*, George Kafatos†, Keith Neal‡, Nick Andrews†, J. Claire Cameron§, Richard Roberts¶, Meirion R. Evans#, Kathy Cann**, David N. Baxter††, Martin C.J. Maiden*, James M. Stuart‡‡Comments to Author , on behalf of the United Kingdom Meningococcal Carriage Group
Author affiliations: *University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom; †Health Protection Agency, London, United Kingdom; ‡University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom; §Health Protection Services Scotland, Glasgow, United Kingdom; ¶Health Protection Team (North Wales), Mold, United Kingdom; #Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom; **Thames Valley Local Health Protection Unit, Aylesbury, United Kingdom; ††St Thomas' Hospital, Stockport, United Kingdom; ‡‡Health Protection Agency Southwest, Stonehouse, United Kingdom

Main Article

Table 2

Single-variable analysis of risk factors for meningococcal carriage in British teenagers at an individual level*

Variable No. swab samples Total positive (%) OR (95% CI) p value
Sex
Male 6,874 1,156 (16.8) 1.00, reference
Female 7,045 1,163 (16.5) 0.98 (0.89–1.07) 0.625
Age (y)
15 959 108 (11.3) 1.00, reference
16 5,856 839 (14.3) 1.32 (1.06–1.63)
17 5,575 1,027 (18.4) 1.78 (1.44–2.20)
18, 19 1,511 342 (22.6) 2.31 (1.82–2.91) <0.001
School year
12 7,265 1,096 (15.1) 1.00, reference
13 4,866 883 (18.1) 1.25 (1.13–1.38)
Other 1,860 310 (18.5) 1.27 (1.11–1.46) <0.001
Cigarettes smoked/day
None 10,732 1,496 (13.9) 1.00, reference
1–5 1,343 335 (24.9) 2.05 (1.79–2.35)
6–10 1,016 277 (27.3) 2.31 (1.99–2.68)
11–20 531 153 (28.8) 2.50 (2.05–3.04)
>21 46 7 (15.2) 1.11 (0.49–2.48) <0.001
Other smokers at home
No 8,457 1,271 (15.0) 1.00, reference
Yes 5,064 974 (19.2) 1.35 (1.23–1.48) <0.001
No. persons kissed in last week
0 7,564 935 (12.4) 1.00, reference
1 4,910 1,049 (21.4) 1.93 (1.75–2.12)
2 662 142 (21.5) 1.94 (1.59–2.36)
3 233 68 (29.2) 2.92 (2.18–3.91)
4–5 328 79 (24.1) 2.25 (1.73–2.92) <0.001
No. nights attended pub or club in last week
0 5,164 523 (10.1) 1.00, reference
1 3,805 648 (17.0) 1.82 (1.6–2.06)
2 2,301 482 (20.9) 2.35 (2.05–2.69)
3 1,207 285 (23.6) 2.74 (2.34–3.22)
4 562 150 (26.7) 3.23 (2.63–3.98)
5–7 572 175 (30.6) 3.91 (3.20–4.78) <0.001
No. persons sharing bedroom
1 11,900 1,963 (16.5) 1.00, reference
2 1,662 284 (17.1) 1.04 (0.91–1.20)
>3 145 22 (15.2) 0.91 (0.57–1.43) 0.751
No. persons/room†
0–1 13,197 2,196 (16.6) 1.00, reference
>1–1.5 457 79 (17.3) 1.05 (0.82–1.34)
>1.5 122 11 (9.0) 0.50 (0.27–0.92) 0.073
Recent antimicrobial drug use
None 11,749 2,021 (17.2) 1.00, reference
Current 682 64 (9.4) 0.50 (0.38–0.65)
Stopped last week 303 48 (15.8) 0.91 (0.66–1.24)
Stopped last month 733 99 (13.5) 0.75 (0.60–0.93) <0.001
Prior polysaccharide vaccine
No 12,493 2,078 (16.6) 1.00, reference
Yes 1,042 170 (16.3) 0.98 (0.82–1.16) 0.791
Carstairs score, per unit 1.02 (1.00–1.03) 0.022
Month of swabbing
Nov 7,050 1,192 (16.9) 1.00, reference
Dec 6,869 1,127 (16.4) 0.96 (0.88–1.05) 0.428

*OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval.
†Derived data.

Main Article

1United Kingdom Meningococcal Carriage Group: S. Ahmed, D.A.A. Ala'aldeen, N. Andrews, R.A. Barnes, D.N. Baxter, J.C. Cameron, K. Cann, A.D. Carr, D. Casey, M. Clacher, S.C. Clarke, D.W. Crook, R. Cunningham, K.T. Dunkin, M.R. Evans, S. Gray, D. Griffiths, S. Harrison, E.B. Kaczmarski, G. Kafatos, J.S. Kroll, Y.K. Lau, G. Lewendon, C. Lewis, J.M. MacLennan, M.C.J. Maiden, P. Marks, R. Mathews, J. Murray, K. Neal, A. Paull, M.E. Ramsay, C. Roberts, J.M. Stuart, D. Turner, R. Urwin, A.M. Walker, S. Welch.

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The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
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