Nasopharyngeal carriage of Neisseria meningitidis among school children at Ijede, Lagos State, Nigeria.

A total of 639 school children ranging in age from 5 to 15 years were investigated for nasopharyngeal carriage of Neisseria meningitidis in Ijede, Lagos-State, Nigeria. The carriage rate was found to be 6.2%. Of the 40 children from whom meningococci were isolated, 25 (62.5%) were males and 15 (37.5%) were females. Serogrouping of the isolates showed that serogroup C Neisseria meningitidis was isolated with the highest frequency 40%, while serogroups A, B, and W135 had isolation rates of 25.5%, 17.5% and 7.5% respectively. This study has shown that group C Neisseria meningitidis is the prevalent serogroup among school children in the area, which is south of the meningitis belt in Nigeria.