[4] Immigration could contribute to change the epidemiological pattern of circulating meningococci and sporadic serogroups could become more frequent in Italy, where migration is developing into a structural phenomenon. The aim of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of carriers of N. meningitidis and the pattern of circulating serogroups in a sample of residents in the Asylum Seeker Center of Bari Palese, Italy. The protocol of the study has been approved by the Regional Government Authority and permission was granted to use the results of the tests anonymously for scientific aims. The research

was carried out in compliance with the Helsinki Declaration. Adhesion was completely voluntary and signed informed consent, which was written in the immigrants’ mother tongue, has been requested and obtained.

Study population was invited to undergo the test through mother tongue announcements which were passed on by word of mouth. Nasopharyngeal PLX-4720 supplier samples were obtained using cotton swabs, which were either plated on site or placed in transport medium in the laboratory within 1 hour. Culture for the detection of N. meningitidis and to ascertain the serogroup has been carried out as described elsewhere.[5] Two-hundred and fifty-three refugees (25.1% of the 1007 residents in the Asylum Center during 2008), of which 224 were male www.selleckchem.com/products/abt-199.html (88.5%) and 29 female (11.5%), aged between 2 and 41 years (average = 19.8; SD = Dichloromethane dehalogenase 6.0 years), were enrolled. Twelve and six percent (n = 32) of the study population were less than 5 years old. All migrants came from Africa and 201 (79.4%) originated from countries within the meningitis belt. Thirteen subjects (5.1%) were identified as healthy carriers of N. meningitidis, of which 5.4% (12/221) were aged >14 years and 3.1% (1/32) aged 2 to 14 years. Prevalence of carriage was 4.9% (10/201) among migrants from meningitis belt countries and 5.7% (3/52) in those from other nations. Six

(46.1%) of the isolates were autoagglutinable, four (30.8%) strains belonged to serogroup W135, and three (23.1%) to serogroup Y. The prevalence of carriage of meningococci in our study was higher than that of other investigations carried out among Italian teenagers during the last 40 years.[5] In contrast, studies recently performed in meningitis belt countries showed a similar prevalence of carriers.[6, 7] Moreover, to our knowledge, data on the carriage of meningococci among migrants are not available in Italy. Crowding and close contact in Asylum Seekers Centers could increase the risk of N. meningitidis transmission among migrants and, as in other closed or semi-closed settings, such as military recruit camps, carriage prevalence may be higher.[8] Unlike older surveys carried out in Puglia,[5] our study did not detect meningococci from serogroups B and C. Serogroups Y and W135, that we discovered, are rare in Europe but almost common in countries of origin of migrants.