Meningitis : the local scene.

Abstract

Meningitis occurs globally. Meningitis is the inflammation of the tissues, which cover the brain and spinal cord. In the absence of highly effective strategies, the morbidity and mortality associated with meningococcal disease have remained virtually unchanged since the introduction of antibiotic therapy over 50 years ago ( 1 ). Intensive care and early recognition have improved but had only limited effect in the developed world and the currently available vaccines, which were developed in the 1960s, have had little impact on the disease worldwide. In economically advanced countries the mortality from bacterial meningitis is less than 10% but it may be 30% or more in developing countries (2.Greenwood 1987). The epidemiology is changing swiftly with the introduction of effective conjugated polysaccharide vaccines for invasive Haemophilus influenza type B (Hib) disease and the imminent availability of similar conjugated vaccines for serogroup A and C meningococcal meningitis and possibly some pneumococcal meningitis. There are good prospects for further reductions in the incidence of bacterial meningitis in the near future.