An epidemic of meningococcal infection at Zaria, Northern Nigeria. 2. The changing clinical pattern.
1,003 patients with meningococcal disease admitted to a single hospital during the course of a three-month epidemic were studied. A progressive decline in mortality, especially among patients with acute meningococcaemia, and a falling incidence of systemic and severe neurological complications among patients with meningitis were observed. It is suggested that the virulence of the causative group A meningococcus declined as the epidemic progressed.
D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008585:Meningitis, Meningococcal / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality; D008589:Meningococcal Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009549:Nigeria; D018805:Sepsis / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality