Outbreaks of meningococcal meningitis in non-African countries over the last 50 years: a systematic review.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Meningococcal disease is caused by the bacteria Neisseria meningitidis, leading to substantial mortality and severe morbidity; with serogroups A, B, C, W135, X and Y most significant in causing disease. An outbreak is defined as multiple cases of the same serogroup occurring in a population over a short time-period. A systematic review was performed to gain insight into outbreaks of meningococcal disease and to describe the temporal pattern over the last 50 years in non-African countries.

Methods

PubMed and EMBASE were searched for English-language publications on outbreaks of meningococcal disease in non-African countries between January 1966 and July 2017, with an additional grey literature search. Articles and reports were considered eligible if they rep

SUBMITTER: van Kessel F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6441124 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature