title: Meningitis caused by Streptococcus suis in humans.
abstract: Between 1968 and 1984, 30 strains of Streptococcus suis causing meningitis were isolated in the Netherlands. Twenty-eight strains were type 2, one was type 4, and one was untypable. The average age of the patients infected with these strains was 49 years (range, 21-76 years); the male-to-female ratio was 6.5. Twenty-five patients (83%) were employed in the pork industry. Two patients (7%) died. In seven cases (23%), predisposing factors were identified. The most frequent sequela was hearing loss (54% of surviving patients). The data for these 30 patients were compared with those for 30 patients from outside the Netherlands whose cases of meningitis due to S. suis type 2 were described between 1968 and 1985. No differences were found. The estimated annual risk of developing S. suis meningitis among Dutch abattoir workers and pig breeders was approximately 3.0/100,000--a rate 1,500 times higher than that among persons not working in the pork industry.
authors.affiliation: Netherlands Reference Laboratory for Bacterial Meningitis, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam.
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Arends
authors.forename: H C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Zanen
mesh_terms: D000003:Abattoirs; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000382:Agricultural Workers' Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008581:Meningitis / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D013290:Streptococcal Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013291:Streptococcus / Q000145:classification; D013552:Swine