Bacterial meningitis is a notifiable disease

As Basatemur mentions,1 bacterial meningitis is a notifiable disease. Clinicians have a duty to notify the relevant health protection team when the diagnosis is suspected. Early notification, rather than waiting for microbiological confirmation, ensures health protection teams can promptly risk assess and, where indicated, follow up the patient’s contacts. This can include arranging antibiotic chemoprophylaxis and providing accurate information to families, friends, and childcare settings.The UK guidance for public health management of meningococcal disease also recommends that all suspected cases have a bacterial throat swab. While this is unlikely to change the clinical management of the case, it may provide information about the infecting strain which can be useful in the investigation of clusters and outbreaks.Immunisation programmes in the UK have reduced the incidence of bacterial meningitis in children. This illustrates the importance of promoting vaccine uptake to parents and guardians and providing good quality, accessible information to tackle vaccine…
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