Overweight and obesity as risk factors for the asymptomatic carrier state of Neisseria meningitidis among a paediatric population

We analysed the asymptomatic carrier state of Neisseria meningitidis in a sample of 339 children. We obtained data for the children’s weight and height, in order to calculate the body mass index (BMI). The cutoff points defined by Cole were employed in determining the BMI, and the population was divided into three groups: normal, overweight and obese. Twenty carriers of N. meningitidis were identified. There was found to be a statistically significant trend to increased risk of being a carrier with increased BMI (z = 2.03; P = 0.04); after adjusting for age using the Mantel–Haenszel weighting method, this relationship was strengthened (z = 2.38; P = 0.01). Paediatric patients with increased BMI in the range of obesity present a three times greater risk of being carriers of N. meningitidis than non-obese patients, with a trend for this risk to increase with higher BMI.