Objectives: To describe mortality and case fatality rate due to bacterial meningitis in the Lazio Region from 1996 to 2000, and to compare these estimates with those from Cause-of-death Registry (CDR) and Hospital Discharge Registry (HDR).
Methods: A follow-up study of mortality was conducted through Registry Offices for bacterial meningitis cases reported to surveillance in 1996-2000 among residents in the Lazio Region. Death due to bacterial meningitis was defined as a patient who died during a hospitalization for meningitis or who died within 30 days after hospitalization and whose underlying cause of death was bacterial meningitis (ICD-9: 036.0, 036.1, 036.2,320.0, 320.1, 320.2, 320.3, 320.7, 320.8, 320.9, 027.0). Case fatality rates estimated from follow-up study were compared with estimates from CDR and HDR of the same period.
Results: 525 bacterial meningitis cases were reported among residents in the whole period; 98 deaths were detected with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 18.7% (CI 95% 15.4-22.5); estimates were higher in patients 64+ year old (44.6%; CI 95% 33.7-55.9) and in meningitis due to Streptococcus pneumoniae (27.5%; CI 95% 20.3-35.6) or Listeria (32.0%; CI 95% 14.9-53.5). The CFR was 10.1% according to the CDR and 10.9% according to the HDR.
Conclusions: CFRs differ according to the database used. Differences may be partially due to a selective lower sensitivity in reporting deceased cases, but the most important factor seems to be the case definition used in follow-up study and other sources of data.