Analysis of surveillance results on epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis in Zhejiang province in 2006

Objective The present study was designed to gain an insight into the epidemiological characteristics of epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis in Zhejiang province in 2006 and the sensitivity of Neisseria meningitidis(Nm) strains to some drugs. Methods Descriptive epidemiological analysis was conducted on the data of the cases reported in 2006 in Zhejiang province. Three counties were chosen for the surveillance of serum antibody and Nm carriage rate in general population. The antibiotic resistance of 51 strains, isolated from the patients and healthy carriers with the micro broth dilution method, to sulfanilamide, penicillin, and chloromycetin,etc. was measured. Results The reported incidence rate of epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis was 0.16/lakh populations. Serogroup A was found to be the major cause in most cases, with serogroup C and B and involved in some cases. The protective rate of antibody against serogroup A (70.65%) was much higher than against serogroup C (6.52%) in general population. The carriage rate of Nm in general population was 1.71% with serogroup B being the dominant serogroup (62.50%). All isolates were sensitive to penicillin, chloromycetin and seven other antimicrobial agents. Some of them were resistant to sulphanilamides, levofloxacin, and ciprofloxacin with different extents of resistance for different serogroups and strains from different sources. Conclusion Serogroup A was still the dominant strain among the confirmed cases with a trend of increasing in serogroup C in Zhejiang province. Serogroup A C strains were different in sensitivity to various antimicrobial agents. Detection of resistance of the strains associated with epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis in patients with the disease and healthy carriers contributes to effective control and prevention of the epidemic.