An Outbreak of Epidemic Cerebrospinal Meningitis Caused by Group A Neisseria Meningitis

Objective The purpose of the present investigation was to get an insight into the epidemiological features of epidemic outbreak of epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis and measures to control the epidemic in Guizhou province．Methods Epidemiological study was conducted on the investigation data and results of laboratory tests about an epidemic outbreak of epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis occurring in 2005 in Dejiang county．Results 21 cases were studied and 76.19％ of the patiets fell into the age group of 5-15 years．No epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis vaccine inoculation had been done in all the cases．Seven strains of group A neisseria meningitis were isolated from the spinal fluids of the patients and the nasopharyngeal swabs from the close contactors．Culture and sensitivity revealed that the strains were sensitive tO sulfonamides，ceftriaxone sodium (Rocephin) and rifampicin．Conclusion Implementation of scheduled immunization of epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis vaccine with early diagnosis and reports is the key to the control of the epidemic in Guizhou province．