Epidemiology of purulent bacterial meningitis in the period of pneumococcal and haemophilus vaccination in the Russian Federation

Objective. To determine the current epidemiological features of the generalized form of meningococcal infection, pneumococcal meningitis, and Haemophilus meningitis during routine Haemophilus and pneumococcal vaccination and meningococcal vaccination, as epidemically indicated. Materials and methods. 170 reporting forms from 85 regions of the Russian Federation, which describe 2219 cases of purulent bacterial meningitis, were analyzed. Biomaterials from 370 patients were examined. Results. There was a vaccination-induced decrease in the incidence rates of pneumococcal and Haemophilus meningitis in children under 5 years of age. Conclusion. It is necessary to increase pneumococcal vaccination coverage in children and adults older than 60 years; to expand indications for vaccination against Haemophilus influenza, so that the vaccinated should include all children above 3 months of age, and not just risk-group children; to consider prospects for the national immunization calendar to include vaccination against meningococcal infection, by taking into account its heavy burden and poor prognosis due to that there may be a regular epidemic rise in morbidity rates.

purulent bacterial meningitis, epidemiological monitoring, vaccination