Cheesbrough J S, Morse A P, Green S D
Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Liverpool.
Epidemiol Infect. 1995 Feb;114(1):75-92. doi: 10.1017/s0950268800051931.
An analysis of bacteria recovered from cerebrospinal fluid over a 16-year period at a rural hospital in western Zaire showed that Neisseria meningitidis accounted for only five (2.2%) isolates. A survey of naso-pharyngeal colonisation with N. meningitidis in 378 healthy children was undertaken to distinguish whether this low frequency was due to lack of carriage or, by inference, lack of the co-factors necessary to permit invasive disease. N. meningitidis was recovered from only three (0.78%) of the children. All isolates were non-typable strains of low pathogenicity. A review of studies examining the aetiology of bacterial meningitis and the geographical location of epidemics of meningococcal meningitis in and around Zaire reveals a 'hypoendemic zone', the limits of which correlate well with the area in which mean absolute humidity remains above 10 g m-3 of air throughout the year. Continuous high absolute humidity appears to reduce the transmission of meningococci.
对扎伊尔西部一家乡村医院16年间从脑脊液中分离出的细菌进行分析后发现，脑膜炎奈瑟菌仅占分离菌株的5株（2.2%）。对378名健康儿童进行了脑膜炎奈瑟菌鼻咽部定植情况的调查，以确定这种低频率是由于携带率低，还是通过推断，由于缺乏引发侵袭性疾病所需的辅助因素。仅从3名（0.78%）儿童中分离出脑膜炎奈瑟菌。所有分离株均为低致病性的不可分型菌株。对扎伊尔及其周边地区细菌性脑膜炎病因及脑膜炎球菌性脑膜炎流行地理位置的研究综述显示，存在一个“低发区”，其边界与全年平均绝对湿度保持在每立方米空气10克以上的区域高度相关。持续的高绝对湿度似乎会减少脑膜炎球菌的传播。
