Differences between sexes in the nasopharyngeal carriage of Neisseria meningitidis

Nasopharyngeal carriage of Neisseria meningitidis was investigated among male and female students sharing similar occupational and living environments at the U.S. Naval Hospital Corps School, Great Lakes, Illinois, in 1972-1973. When students beginning the study without meningococcal carriage were evaluated, meningococcal acquisition, weekly carrier prevalence, number of different serogroups carried, proportion of serogroup Y carriers, and average duration of group Y carriage were approximately equal for each sex. In this comparable group of men and women, there was no evidence of differences in meningococcal carriage associated solely with the sex of the host.