title: Epidemiological profile of meningococcal disease in the State of Minas Gerais and in the Central, North, and Triângulo Mineiro regions, Brazil, during 2000-2009.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Infection by Neisseria meningitidis, termed as meningococcal disease, can cause meningococcal meningitis and septicemia with or without meningitis. Meningococcal disease is endemic in Brazil and has a high potential to cause large-scale epidemics; therefore, it requires the immediate notification of cases to the Information System for Notifiable Diseases (SINAN) in Brazil. The aim of this study was to describe an epidemiological profile using data from notified and confirmed cases in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, from January 2000 to December 2009, obtained from the investigation records of individuals with meningitis registered with SINAN.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a retrospective, population-based study. Descriptive analysis of the data was made using the simple and relative frequencies of the categorical variables in the investigation records.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 1,688 confirmed patients in Minas Gerais of which 45.5% lived in the Central, North, and Triângulo Mineiro regions. The highest frequencies of cases were in the 1-4-years age group (26.3%), males (54.7%), caucasian (36.4%), and lived in an urban area (80%). In the patients with specified education, 650 (60.9%) patients had secondary education. Serogrouping of meningococci had been performed in 500 (29.6%) patients by age and gender; 285 (57%) belonged to serogroup C, 67 (13.4%) were in the 1-to 4-years age group, and 168 (33.6%) were male.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The epidemiological profiles of patients in the Central, North, and Triângulo Mineiro regions were not significantly different from the profile of patients in Minas Gerais.
authors: Disciplina de Produção Técnico-Científica Interdisciplinar, Universidade Paulista, Brasília, DF.
authors: Karynne Alves do
authors: KA
authors: Nascimento
authors: Sybelle de Souza Castro
authors: Sde S
authors: Miranzi
authors: Lúcia Marina
authors: LM
authors: Scatena
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D018563:Disease Notification; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008585:Meningitis, Meningococcal / Q000453:epidemiology; D008589:Meningococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009345:Neisseria meningitidis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D055815:Young Adult