Epidemiological characteristics and disease burden of bacterial meningitis in hospitalized children in China: a 6-year nationwide retrospective study.

ABSTRACT: Bacterial meningitis is a severe infectious disease. Study of bacterial meningitis of children in recent years are limited. It is unclear whether there have been any changes in the epidemiological characteristics of bacterial meningitis during the years of the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to describe a large, nationwide study of bacterial meningitis in China. We analyzed data of hospitalized patients with bacterial meningitis from 30 hospitals in China from 2016-2021. A total of 16566 episodes of bacterial meningitis were included, of which 13614 episodes (82.18%) occurred in children age under 5-years old. The admission proportion of bacterial meningitis to total hospitalization decreased from 0.24% to 0.16% after COVID -19 pandemic (under COVID -Zero Strategy) (P < .0

SUBMITTER: Liu L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12020171 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature