AU - Valipour, Mahdi AU - Piroozmand, Ahmad AU - Khorshidi, Ahmad AU - Akbari, Hossein AU - Mirzaee, Hamed TI - Identification of serological groups A, B, C, W135, Y, X Neisseria meningitidis carriers by multiplex PCR in the nasopharynx of students in Kashan during 2011-2012 PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE TA - KAUMS JN - KAUMS VO - 17 VI - 2 IP - 2 4099 - http://feyz.kaums.ac.ir/article-1-1911-en.html 4100 - http://feyz.kaums.ac.ir/article-1-1911-en.pdf SO - KAUMS 2 ABĀ  - Background: Neisseria meningitidis (N. meningitidis) is a pathogen which colonizes in the nasopharynx without any clinical manifestations. Among the 13 different serological groups, only the serogroups A, B, C, W135, Y, X play a major role in disease development. This study aimed to determine N. meningitidis cases carrying these serological groups using the multiplex PCR method in the nasopharynx of students in Kashan schools . Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 1289 students in Kashan during 2011-2012. Samples were collected from the students' nasopharynx using a sterile swab and cultured on a selective medium . Strains were identified through biochemical tests. Then the serological groups were determined using the multiplex PCR method. Results: One-hundred and fifteen (8.9%) out of 1289 students were N.meningitidis carriers 75 (65.2%) male and 40 (34.8%) female. There was a significant difference between gender and the rate of carriers (P=0.032). The highest rate of carriers (12.3%) was in the 15 to 19 year age group. There was a significant relationship between the rate of carriers and increase in the number of family members (P CP - IRAN IN - Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical LG - eng PB - KAUMS PG - 181 PT - Research YR - 2013