Meningococcal infections in Belfast children 1972-1973.

During the winter and spring of 1972-1973 it became noticeable that many more children with meningitis were being admitted to the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children (RBHSC) than in previous years. Between August 1972 and August 1973 there were 83 such admissions as compared with only 20 in the same period of 1971-1972. Closer analysis of the aetiology revealed that the majority of bacterial cases were due to the meningococcus. Included in these figures are children who developed fulminant meningococcal septicaemia with or without meningitis. Sixty per cent of the meningococcal organisms isolated during the period under review were noted to be resistant to sulphonamides. No preventive method of control of bacterial meningitis is at present available such as has been developed for other potentially life threatening infectious diseases. The effectiveness of sulphonamide administration to contacts is now doubtful in controlling spread of the infection. Reduction in mortality is therefore dependent entirely on the early recognition of the disease and rapid commencemnt of rigorous therapy. Indeed 5 of the 7 fatal cases in this series died within 12 hours of admission. It is clear that every case of childhood bacterial meningitis is an acute medical emergency.