title: The current situation of meningococcal disease in Latin America and recommendations for a new case definition from the Global Meningococcal Initiative.
abstract: The Global Meningococcal Initiative (GMI) is an international group of scientists and clinicians with expertise in meningococcal disease (MD). It promotes MD prevention through education and research. Given geographic differences in disease epidemiology, prevention strategies (e.g., vaccination) should be country-specific to ensure local needs are met. However, regional policies/recommendations and standardized disease diagnostic criteria should be implemented to improve surveillance and control strategies, and allow for more robust data comparisons. Consequently, the GMI convened a meeting with Latin American representatives to discuss the burden of MD and vaccination practices/policies, and consider if the global GMI recommendations could be tailored. The group determined that as robust, uniform epidemiologic data are required to make informed health-policy decisions, it would be useful to first summarize the regional situation herein (including disease surveillance, case definitions, epidemiology, vaccination and outbreak control strategies) and then determine a consensus-based meningococcal case definition for use throughout the region.
authors.affiliation: FCM da Santa Casa de São Paulo, Alameda dos Indigenas, 228, ZIP 04059 060, São Paulo, Brazil. masafadi@uol.com.br
authors.forename: Marco Aurélio P
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Sáfadi
authors.forename: Luz Elena Espinosa
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: de los Monteros
authors.forename: Eduardo Luis
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: López
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Sàez-Llorens
authors.forename: Ana Paula
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Lemos
authors.forename: Sarbelio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moreno-Espinosa
authors.forename: Silvia González
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Ayala
authors.forename: Juan Pablo
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Torres
authors.forename: José Cassio
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: de Moraes
authors.forename: Julio Alberto
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Vázquez
mesh_terms: D003140:Communicable Disease Control / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007843:Latin America / Q000453:epidemiology; D008589:Meningococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D022401:Meningococcal Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology*; D015995:Prevalence
chemical_list: D022401:Meningococcal Vaccines