Carriers of Meningococci among Norwegian Naval Recruits

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.