Meningococcal disease

Meningococcal disease is an acute contagious life-threatening illness, characterised by fever, petechial or purpuric rash, and signs of sepsis and/or meningitis. It is a notifiable disease in the UK.

May progress rapidly to septic shock, with hypotension, acidosis, and disseminated intravascular coagulation.

Highest rates of invasive infection are in children under 5 years of age, especially under 1 year of age, with a second peak occurring in 11- to 24-year-olds, and third peak in people >65 years of age.

Diagnosis is confirmed by isolation of Neisseria meningitidis from a normally sterile body site.

Confirmed meningococcal infection is treated with a third-generation cephalosporin. Where a cephalosporin is not appropriate, the choice of agent is based on the individual patient circumstances, antibiotic susceptibilities, and local availability.

Meningococcal infections are caused by Neisseria meningitidis, a gram-negative diplococcus that colonises the nasopharynx. Bacteria invade the bloodstream or spread within the respiratory tract. A case is confirmed by detection of N meningitidis-specific nucleic acid (using a validated polymerase chain reaction assay) in a specimen obtained from a normally sterile site (e.g., blood or cerebrospinal fluid), or by isolation of N meningitidis from a normally sterile site.[1]Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Meningococcal disease. In: Manual for the surveillance of vaccine-preventable diseases. January 2022 [internet publication]. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/surv-manual/chpt08-mening.html Probable cases include those where N meningitidis antigen is detected by immunohistochemical staining on formalin-fixed tissue, or in cerebrospinal fluid by latex agglutination.

This topic covers meningococcal disease (meningococcal meningitis and/or meningococcal sepsis) and bacterial meningitis in non-pregnant adults and children. See also Bacterial meningitis in adults and Bacterial meningitis in children.