This article presents the first systematic study of the spatial transmission of the 1929–33 epidemic of meningococcal meningitis and its association with local coal mining communities in three adjacent high incidence counties of England; Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, and the West Riding of Yorkshire. Drawing on a robust method of spatial epidemiological analysis (swash-backwash model), we demonstrate a gradient response with local levels of employment in coal mining for each of three key parameters of the epidemic wave: spatial velocity of transmission; duration of infectivity; and spatial reach. Partial least squares regression analysis identifies the relatively young and fertile demographic of local mining communities as the principal determinant of the resulting epidemic burden. Other sociodemographic parameters, including established risk factors for invasive meningococcal disease (low social class, high residential density, and overcrowding) are found to play little, or no, role in the spatial distribution of the disease. Our findings have importance for understanding the historic links between the coal mining industry and epidemic meningococcal meningitis, and point to possible present-day opportunities for intervention through the designation of coal mining communities as defined risk groups for meningococcal vaccines.

中文翻译：

---

英格兰省的脑膜炎球菌性脑膜炎和煤矿开采：1929-33 年重大流行病的地理视角

本文首次对 1929-33 年脑膜炎球菌性脑膜炎流行的空间传播及其与英格兰三个相邻高发县当地煤矿社区的关系进行了系统研究；诺丁汉郡、德比郡和约克郡西区。借鉴一种稳健的空间流行病学分析方法（swash-backwash 模型）)，我们展示了对于流行病波的三个关键参数中的每一个的当地煤矿就业水平的梯度响应：传播的空间速度；传染性持续时间；和空间范围。偏最小二乘回归分析确定当地采矿社区相对年轻和肥沃的人口是由此产生的流行病负担的主要决定因素。其他社会人口学参数，包括侵袭性脑膜炎球菌病的既定风险因素（低社会阶层、高居住密度和过度拥挤）被发现在疾病的空间分布中几乎没有作用或没有作用。我们的研究结果对于了解煤炭开采业与流行性脑膜炎球菌性脑膜炎之间的历史联系具有重要意义，