Because of the carriage of erm(C), msr(A), mph(C), aphA3 and sat as well as affiliation to spa type t067, these isolates probably represent an epidemic strain, or a close relative of it, recently described in Spain [64].
Carriage of the C allele of rs1573611 was associated with a higher BMI, body fat and waist circumference when examined as the dominant model (Table S1), and with BMI and body fat as an additive model (Table 2).
Of course, it is not practical to regard all these variants as "strains" and to invent and to use different names for, e.g. the variants of ST22-MRSA-IV which just differ in carriage of erm(C) or sec+sel.
A reduction in serogroup C carriage after this intervention has already been reported (19 ).
We hypothesize these factors might be associated with membership in a common social network in which carriage of serogroup C meningococci is increased (13 ).
The 2-strain model sees a more rapid reduction in the prevalence of carriage for serogroup C (Fig. 1d-f, see also Additional file 1: Figure S3d-f).
First, we sought to determine if homozygous carriage of the C allele was associated with depression status (GDS ≥ 10 = depressed), compared to T allele carriers (CT plus TT; TT was not analyzed separately due to sample size).
A year after the introduction of the MenC vaccine campaign in 1999, a survey conducted by the UK Meningococcal Carriage Group found an average 66% decrease in serogroup C carriage in students aged 15 through 17 y.
As expected, in this latter study a decline in prevalence of carriage of serogroup C meningococci was reported from 1999, the year of introduction of MenC conjugate vaccine in UK.
Whether this variation is related to different costs associated with erm(C) carriage or different extents of genetic compensation for an initial cost cannot be concluded from current data.
Sixty-six percent of CC homozygotes were depressed compared to 57% for T allele carriers; therefore, homozygous carriage of the C allele was associated with a significantly increased risk of depression (B = 0.50, SE = 0.19, Wald (df = 1) = 6.88, p = 0.009, and OR = 1.65 (95% CI = 1.14-2.40).
