Disease facts and figures
Meningitis and septicaemia trends
Meningitis Research Foundation collects data on the number of cases and incidence rates of
bacterial meningitis and septicaemia from the Health Protection Agency, Health Protection Scotland, Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre (NI), Health Protection Surveillance Centre (Republic of Ireland) and the Office of National Statistics.
There are several ways of recording the number of cases of meningitis and septicaemia:
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Laboratory confirmed
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Notifications
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Enhanced Surveillance
Laboratory confirmed
cases are collected from national reference labs or local microbiology labs that have analysed blood or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from patients with suspected meningitis or septicaemia. These data inform us of the type of meningitis or septicaemia (e.g. meningococcal, pneumococcal) and the serogroup (e.g. meningococcal group B or group C).
Notifications
are data obtained medical doctors who clinically diagnose meningococcal disease, or any form of meningitis, have a legal requirement to notify the local public health authorities. These notified figures can only provide information about the type of meningitis or septicaemia but not the serogroup.
Both laboratory confirmed and notifications data, however, underestimate true case numbers due to underreporting.
Enhanced surveillance
of Meningococcal Disease (ESMD) was set up to provide a more realistic estimate of the number of cases of meningococcal disease. ESMD attempts to reconcile reference laboratory data with notifications data, to get a more accurate picture of the number of cases each year. In reality, data collected through ESMD may overestimate cases, but together the 3 systems provide a more complete picture of disease levels and trends.
Surveillance of invasive pneumococcal disease (including pneumococcal meningitis, septicaemia and severe pneumonia) is enhanced and detailed figures of laboratory-confirmed cases are available. This scheme was set up to monitor the impact of the introduction of conjugate pneumococcal vaccine in 2006 in the UK.
Notified cases of meningococcal septicaemia and bacterial meningitis in England and Wales by year
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In England and Wales from 1999 to 2007 there was a 41% decrease in the total number of cases of meningococcal septicaemia and bacterial meningitis notified – mainly due to the drop in serogroup C meningococcal disease due to introduction of MenC vaccine
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Meningococcal infection has remained the leading cause of bacterial meningitis, followed by TB and pneumococcal
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Between 1999-2001 there was a steady increase in the number of Hib meningitis cases, however Hib booster campaigns and the introduction of a routine booster vaccine in 2006 are reducing this resurgence
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TB meningitis has increased in case numbers since 2000 and is at its highest level in 2007, this is likely to be due to a global increase in TB in recent years
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Over the period 1999-2007, the drop in meningococcal septicaemia has been more marked than meningococcal meningitis. This is consistent with the effect of MenC vaccine, since group C disease causes more severe cases (i.e. septicaemia) than group B
Causes of bacterial meningitis in the UK and Republic of Ireland
Meningococcal septicaemia and bacterial meningitis in England and Wales by age
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Babies and children, 0-4 years old, have the highest risk of meningococcal infection and many forms of bacterial meningitis
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An additional age group at high risk of meningococcal infection are the 15-24 year olds
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In children less than 15 years of age, most meningococcal infection is notified as septicaemia. In adolescents and adults, meningococcal meningitis appears to be more common than septicaemia
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All forms of bacterial meningitis (with the exception of TB meningitis) are more common in young children, with most cases occurring under the age of 4 years
Incidence and cases of meningococcal infection in the UK and Republic of Ireland
Meningococcal infection by type in England and Wales
Meningococcal cases in Scotland by type
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Group B has been the major cause of meningococcal infection in Scotland in recent years. It has declined since 2000, consistent with the trends in England and Wales
- Cases of group C meningococcal infection have declined from 2000-2007 by almost 95%, due to the introduction of MenC vaccination in 1999/2000
Meningococcal cases in Northern Ireland by type
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Group B is the major cause of meningococcal infection in Northern Ireland. Levels of group B have remained relatively similar from 2002-2007
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Similar to other parts of the UK, Northern Ireland has seen a decline in meningococcal infection with time (2002-2007) due to the impact of the MenC vaccine, introduced in 1999/2000
Meningococcal cases in the Republic of Ireland by type
Pneumococcal cases in England and Wales by age
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Pneumococcal bacteria are responsible for several types of disease. These range in severity from invasive illnesses such as septicaemia, pneumonia and meningitis, to less severe infection such as earache.
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In 2007, in England and Wales alone there were 278 lab-confirmed cases of pneumococcal meningitis, much higher than the number of cases notified (173).
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Young children aged 0-4 years have the highest incidence of pneumococcal meningitis This demonstrates the value of having the pneumococcal vaccine early, at 2, 4, and 13 months of age, to protect those most at risk at a crucial time
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The second most vulnerable age group are people aged 65 and older