Editorial: Meningococcal disease.

Meningococcal disease causes at least 500,000 cases and 50,000 deaths worldwide each year. Epidemics of meningococcal meningitis occur in many parts of the world. Serogroup A is associated with explosive epidemics with attack rates up to 500 per 100,000. An epidemic of serogroup A in the African ‘meningitis belt’, which began in 1996, has resulted in at least 300,000 cases to date and many thousands of deaths. 1 Serogroup B is the major cause of sporadic meningococcal disease in industrialised countries. Serogroup C, which also occurs in industrialised countries, causes both sporadic and epidemic disease. Serogroup C outbreaks typically result in attack rates between those of serogroups A and B. 2 Serogroups Y and W135 are uncommon in Australia.