Posted on 02/10/2006 7:32:38 PM PST by andie74
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In adolescents, intimate kissing with multiple partners, attending college, and a history of preceding illness are independent risk factors for meningococcal disease, whereas religious observance and meningococcal vaccination are tied to reduced risks, new research shows.
Meningococcal disease -- a bacterial infection of the fluid within the tissues surrounding the brain and spinal cord -- is largely a disease affecting children younger than 5 years, although in recent years both the US and UK have seen rising rates among teens.
This trend served as a major stimulus for the development of the meningococcal vaccine, which has proven highly successful.
Exactly why the incidence of meningococcal disease peaks again around the adolescent years is unclear. Several studies have looked at risk factors for this disease in teenagers, but most have been limited to certain subgroups or included subject numbers.
As reported in the British Medical Journal, Dr. Joanna Tully, from the University of London, and colleagues compared sociodemographics, lifestyle, and medical factors in 144 teenagers with menincogoccal disease and an equal number of healthy controls of similar age. Blood samples as well as throat and nasal swabs were obtained from all subjects.
Overall, 114 of the 144 "case patients" were confirmed as having meningococcal disease with microbiologic tests.
Intimate kissing with multiple partners and preterm birth were the strongest independent risk factors for meningococcal disease, each raising the risk 3.7-fold. Being a college student and a history of preceding illness increased the odds 3.4- and 2.9-fold, respectively.
Attending one or more religious ceremonies in the 2 weeks before illness was associated with a 90 percent reduced risk of meningococcal disease. Similarly, receipt of the meningococcal vaccine cut the risk of disease by 88 percent.
The results suggest that "changing personal behaviors could reduce the risk of meningococcal disease in adolescence," the authors state. Still, behavior-based health promotion messages are unlikely to have a major impact on disease rates in this group, they concede. "The development of further effective meningococcal vaccines therefore remains a key public health priority."
SOURCE: British Medical Journal, February 9, 2006.
Wait a minute. You are asking that the gummint follow its own rules. That ain't gonna work.
BIG HINT: This "intimate kissing" isn't like kissing your sister or kissing your cat.
All the more reason to brush your tongue!
The more I look around, the more I believe it can't be corrected at the ballot box. Too many unelected bureaucrats are doing too many things that Congress should be doing, and Congress is doing too many things it shouldn't.
Since the "Loose Lips Sink Ships" phrase already has popped up on my posting page, I'm not saying anything more.
Good for them. "Learn by doing."
Point taken, but mono is no picnic either.
I just did it until I needed glasses...
That's not all it raises...
A lot of blind male engineering majors out there hehe...
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