Neisseria meningitidis carriage rate, antibiotic susceptibility profile, and associated factors among prisoners at Jimma zonal correction facility in Jimma Town, Southwestern Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study

Background Neisseria meningitidis causes severe life-threatening meningococcal disease with a case fatality rate of 10-15% even with proper treatment. In Ethiopia, particularly in our study area, inadequate information is found on meningococcal disease. So, this study aimed to assess N. meningitidis carriage rate, antibiotic susceptibility profile, and associated factors among prisoners in Jimma Town, Southwestern Ethiopia. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in Jimma town, Southwest Ethiopia, from May to October 2019. A stratified sampling technique was used and proportional allocation was done. A total of 550 oropharyngeal swabs were collected, processed, isolated, and identified N. meningitidis using standard microbiological techniques. Antibiotics susceptibility test was done for isolates using the disk diffusion method. Data on demographic and associated factors for carriage were collected using a structured questionnaire. Data were summarized using frequency, percentage, graph, and table. A logistic regression model was used to see the association between the dependent and independent variables. Variables with a p-value < 0.25 during bivariate analysis were included in multivariate analysis to identify factors significantly associated with the meningococcal carriage and, a p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Result Out of the 550 study participants, 76(13.8%) with (CI: 7.20-18.20) were found carriers of N meningitidis. The predominant isolates were non-serogroupable 26(34.2%) and serogroup W/Y 22(28.9%), respectively. N. meningitidis isolates showed highest sensitivity to chloramphenicol 74(97.4%). Meningococcal carriage rate was significantly associated with being age group of 16-20 years; having respiratory symptoms within 3 months and active cigarette smoking within 3 months. Conclusions The majority of participants harbor most of the serogroups responsible for invasive cases of meningococcal disease. Respiratory symptoms, active cigarette smoking, and age group of 16-20 years increased the risk of N. meningitidis pharyngeal carriage rate. This study suggests providing better health education to control respiratory symptoms, smoking, and providing antibiotic prophylaxis for prisoners.