Meningococcal disease

Meningococcal disease is an acute contagious illness, characterized by fever, petechial or purpuric rash, and signs of sepsis and/or meningitis.

May progress rapidly to septic shock, with hypotension, acidosis, and disseminated intravascular coagulation.

Highest rates of invasive infection are in children under 5 years of age, especially under 1 year of age, with a second peak occurring in 11- to 24-year-olds and third peak in people >65 years of age.

Diagnosis confirmed by isolation of Neisseria meningitidis from a normally sterile body site.

Confirmed meningococcal infection is treated with a third-generation cephalosporin. Where a cephalosporin is not appropriate, the choice of agent is based on the individual patient circumstances, antibiotic susceptibilities, and local availability.

Overall mortality rate is 10% to 15%. Between 10% and 20% of survivors of meningococcal meningitis have permanent neurologic sequelae, including sensorineural hearing loss, seizure disorders, blindness, motor disorders, and intellectual impairment.

Meningococcal infections are caused by Neisseria meningitidis, a gram-negative diplococcus that colonizes the nasopharynx. Bacteria invade the bloodstream or spread within the respiratory tract. A case is confirmed by detection of N meningitidis-specific nucleic acid (using a validated polymerase chain reaction assay) in a specimen obtained from a normally sterile site (e.g., blood or cerebrospinal fluid), or by isolation of N meningitidis from a normally sterile site or from purpuric lesions.[1]Rubis A, Schillie S. Chapter 8: meningococcal disease. Manual for the surveillance of vaccine-preventable diseases. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2024. Probable cases include those where N meningitidis antigen is detected by immunohistochemical staining on formalin-fixed tissue, or in cerebrospinal fluid by latex agglutination.[1]Rubis A, Schillie S. Chapter 8: meningococcal disease. Manual for the surveillance of vaccine-preventable diseases. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2024.