An outbreak of meningococcal meningitis in Gauteng, Spring 1996.
OBJECTIVE
To describe a Neisseria meningitidis outbreak in Gauteng during the period 1 July to 31 December 1996.


METHODS
A descriptive study.


METHODS
Patients with meningococcal meningitis in Gauteng who had been diagnosed by laboratory means, or notified during the period 1 July to 31 December 1996.


METHODS
Data including age, sex, date of admission to hospital, N. meningitidis serogroup and outcome were collected from Gauteng notification lists, South African Institute of Medical Research (SAIMR) records, a linelist compiled by the Gauteng Health Department, and hospital records.


RESULTS
A total of 201 patients was studied; of this number 87 (43%) had been notified. Seventy per cent of cases were below 30 years of age and 78% were male. More than half (54%) of the cases were from the West Rand. The case fatality rate for 70 cases of known outcome was 14%. Serotyping of 85 isolates showed that a majority (76%) were serogroup A, with 57% being serogroup A clone I-1. Serogroup A clone III-1 accounted for 14% of the typed isolates. All isolates were sensitive to penicillin with minimum inhibitory concentrations of < 0.05 microgram/ml.


CONCLUSIONS
In 1996 Gauteng experienced an epidemic of serogroup A meningococcal meningitis. The serotype that caused the majority of cases had been recorded in South Africa before, but serogroup A clone III-1, responsible for epidemics spreading across two continents, was recorded in South Africa for the first time. Notification of cases by health workers was inadequate in this epidemic.
Balfour
T M
TM
Department of Community Health, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
Edginton
M E
ME
Koornhof
H
H
McGee
L
L
Floyd
L
L
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D018563:Disease Notification; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008585:Meningitis, Meningococcal / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D008875:Middle Aged; D009345:Neisseria meningitidis / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification; D013019:South Africa / Q000453:epidemiology