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Risk factors for meningococcal meningitis in northern Ghana

Hodgson, A. and Smith, T. and Gagneux, S. and Adjuik, M. and Pluschke, G. and Mensah, N. K. and Binka, F. and Genton, B.. (2001) Risk factors for meningococcal meningitis in northern Ghana. Transactions of The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Vol. 95, H. 5. pp. 477-480.

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Abstract

Meningococcal meningitis is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the meningitis belt of sub-Saharan Africa where it occurs in epidemics every 8-12 years. Risk factors for the disease in this setting remain largely unknown. We carried out a case-control study to investigate possible risk factors among survivors of a meningitis epidemic occurring in 1997 in northern Ghana. A structured questionnaire on socio-economic factors, housing and household overcrowding, smoking and exposure to smoke and close contact with a case was administered to 505 of the survivors and 505 of age-, sex- and location-matched controls. Cooking in kitchens with firewood stoves (OR 9.00, CI 1.25-395) and sharing a bedroom with a case (OR 2.18 CI 1.43-3.4) were found to be risk factors for disease. Socio-economic factors, overcrowding, smoking and passive exposure to tobacco smoke were not found to be risk factors. Exposure to smoke from cooking fires or close contact with a case puts people at risk of contracting meningococcal meningitis. In the hot dry months, exposure to smoke from cooking fires should be minimized by encouraging alternatives to cooking over wood fires, or cooking outside. If wood-burning stoves cannot be avoided, kitchens should be made larger with improved ventilation. Meningitis cases should be nursed in well-ventilated rooms and the number of people sharing a room with a case kept at a minimum.
Faculties and Departments:09 Associated Institutions > Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) > Department of Medical Parasitology and Infection Biology (MPI) > Tuberculosis Ecology and Evolution Unit (Gagneux)
UniBasel Contributors:Gagneux, Sebastien
Item Type:Article, refereed
Article Subtype:Research Article
Publisher:Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
ISSN:0035-9203
Note:Publication type according to Uni Basel Research Database: Journal article
Language:English
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Last Modified:13 Mar 2018 17:15
Deposited On:24 May 2013 09:19

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