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Incidence and Prevalence

Most (approx. 70%) cases of meningitis occur in children under the age of 5 and people over the age of 60.

In the United States, bacterial meningitis affects about 3 in 100,000 people each year, and viral meningitis affects about 10 in 100,000.

Hib vaccine has reduced U.S. incidence of bacterial meningitis caused by Haemophilus influenzae type b by approximately 90%. The disease is more prevalent in people between the ages of 15 and 24 who have not been vaccinated.

Worldwide, bacterial resistance to penicillin and other antibiotics and the lack of access to vaccines accounts for rising rates of bacterial meningitis.

Risk Factors

The primary risk factor for meningitis is a suppressed immune system, which may be caused by the following:

• Alcoholism
  
• Autoimmune disorders (e.g., lupus)
  
• Immunosuppressive drugs (e.g., corticosteroids, chemotherapies)
  
• Intravenous drug abuse
  
• HIV/AIDS, cancer, diabetes
  
• Removal of the spleen
  
• Smoking
  

Not receiving the mumps, Haemophilus influenzae type b, and pneumococcal (children aged 2 and younger) vaccines increases the risk for meningitis.

Age is also a risk factor for meningitis. It is more common in people younger than 5 years old and those older than 60. People between the ages of 15 and 24 who live in boarding schools and college dormitories are also at increased risk.

Living and working with large groups of people (e.g., military bases, child care facilities) increases the risk for infectious meningitis.

People who work with domestic animals (e.g., dairy farmers, ranchers) and pregnant women are at increased risk for meningitis associated with listeriosis (disease transmitted from animals to humans via soil). Listeriosis can be transmitted from mother to fetus through the placenta, causing spontaneous abortion. The disease is usually fatal in newborns.

Head injuries and brain surgery also put patients at risk for meningitis.

Meningitis, Incidence and Prevalence reprinted with permission from neurologychannel.com
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