title: Incidence of tuberculous meningitis in the State of Santa Catarina, Brazil.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of this study was to estimate the incidence of tuberculous meningitis in the State of Santa Catarina (SC), Brazil, during the period from 2001 to 2010.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ecological, temporal, and descriptive methods were employed using data obtained from the Information System on Disease Notification (Sistema de Informação de Agravos de Notificação).
  
  
  RESULTS
  One hundred sixteen reported cases of tuberculous meningitis occurred from 2001 to 2010, corresponding to 1.2% (0.2 cases/100,000 inhabitants) of all meningitis cases reported in SC. There was a predominance of new cases in males, corresponding to 56.9% of new cases (0.2 cases/100,000 inhabitants; males vs. females; p=0.374), in patients aged 20-39 years, corresponding to 52.6% of new cases (0.5 cases/100,000 inhabitants; 20-39 years versus others; p<0.001), and in urban areas, corresponding to 91.4% of new cases (0.2 cases/100,000 inhabitants; urban vs. rural; p=0.003). In 48.3% of cases, the outcome was death.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The incidence rate of tuberculous meningitis in SC has increased within the last decade, with the most affected population comprising young adult white males with an average education. Thus, tuberculous meningitis remains a serious disease, emphasizing the need for disease prevention with vaccination campaigns against tuberculosis, the development of faster and more accurate diagnostic methods, and the use of current epidemiological knowledge regarding the disease to facilitate the establishment of early treatment.
authors.affiliation: Curso de Medicina, Unidade Acadêmica de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade do Extremo Sul Catarinense, Criciúma, SC.
authors.forename: Cíntia Helena de
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Souza
authors.affiliation: Curso de Medicina, Unidade Acadêmica de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade do Extremo Sul Catarinense, Criciúma, SC.
authors.forename: Ayaka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yamane
authors.affiliation: Curso de Medicina, Unidade Acadêmica de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade do Extremo Sul Catarinense, Criciúma, SC.
authors.forename: Jeison Cleiton
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Pandini
authors.affiliation: Grupo de Pesquisa em Gestão do Cuidado, Integralidade e Educação na Saúde, Laboratório de Direito Sanitário e Saúde Coletiva, Unidade Acadêmica de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade do Extremo Sul Catarinense, Criciúma, SC.
authors.forename: Luciane Bisognin
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Ceretta
authors.affiliation: Grupo de Pesquisa em Gestão do Cuidado, Integralidade e Educação na Saúde, Laboratório de Direito Sanitário e Saúde Coletiva, Unidade Acadêmica de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade do Extremo Sul Catarinense, Criciúma, SC.
authors.forename: Fabiane
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ferraz
authors.affiliation: Curso de Medicina, Unidade Acadêmica de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade do Extremo Sul Catarinense, Criciúma, SC.
authors.forename: Glauco Duarte
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: da Luz
authors.affiliation: Curso de Medicina, Unidade Acadêmica de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade do Extremo Sul Catarinense, Criciúma, SC.
authors.forename: Priscyla Waleska
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Simões
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D018563:Disease Notification; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012424:Rural Population; D014390:Tuberculosis, Meningeal / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014505:Urban Population; D055815:Young Adult