Observational studyJournal of internal medicine2022
Bacterial meningitis: Aetiology, risk factors, disease trends and severe sequelae during 50 years in Sweden.
Observational study in Journal of internal medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 31 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sex differences in bacterial meningitis and associations with socioeconomic indicators: a systematic review and meta-analysis with metaregression.BMJ global health · 2025Pooled it
- Community-acquired bacterial meningitis in adults in Denmark (2015-2023): a prospective, nationwide, population-based cohort study.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2026Article
- Outcomes of adults with community-acquired bacterial meningitis in the Netherlands: a prospective nationwide cohort study.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2026Article
- Article
- Community-acquired bacterial meningitis in Southern Sweden 2013-2023: a population-based study of incidence, aetiology and diagnostic yield.European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology · 2026Article
- Enhanced detection of bacterial etiologies, antibiotic resistance profile, and treatment outcomes of meningitis patients in Ethiopia: a prospective cross-sectional study.BMC microbiology · 2025Article
- Fulminant Multidrug-ResistantMicroorganisms · 2025Article
- May bacterial meningitis pave the way for a toxoplasmosis flare-up: a cross-sectional study from Egypt.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Streptococcus pneumoniae epidemiology, pathogenesis and control.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2025Review
- Postneonatal Cerebral Palsy in Europe: Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics According to Contributory Events: An SCPE Study.Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology · 2025Article
- Foreign Contaminants Target Brain Health.CNS & neurological disorders drug targets · 2025Review
- An economic evaluation of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines, PCV20 versus PCV15, for the prevention of pneumococcal disease in the Swedish pediatric population.Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics · 2024Article
- Adult Work Ability Following Diagnosis of Bacterial Meningitis in Childhood.JAMA network open · 2024Article
- Review
- Determining the bacterial and viral meningitis trend in Iraq from 2007 till 2023 using joinpoint regression.Heliyon · 2024Article
- Article
- Combining antibiotic with anti-TLR2/TLR13 therapy prevents brain pathology in pneumococcal meningitis.JCI insight · 2024Article
- Diagnosis of Neurological Infections in Pediatric Patients from Cell-Free DNA Specimens by Using Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing.Microbiology spectrum · 2023Article
- Bacterial meningitis in adults: a retrospective study among 148 patients in an 8-year period in a university hospital, Finland.BMC infectious diseases · 2023Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundBacterial meningitis (BM) is a rare but severe infection. Few population-based studies have characterised BM episodes and sequelae over long periods.
methodsThis was a population-based observational cohort study with national coverage, using data on aetiological pathogens, sex, premorbid conditions, steroid pretreatment, severe sequelae and birth, death and diagnosis dates collected from 10,339 patients with BM reported to the National Board of Health and Welfare in Sweden between 1964 and 2014.
resultsDuring the 50-year study period, the incidence of BM decreased in young children, but not in the elderly. The most common cause of BM was pneumococci (34%), followed by Haemophilus influenzae (26%), and meningococci (18%), mainly community acquired. Premorbid conditions were found in 20%. After the H. influenzae type b vaccine was introduced in 1993, the BM incidence decreased by 36%. Following pneumococcal conjugated vaccine introduction in 2009, the incidence and 30-day mortality from pneumococcal meningitis decreased by 64% and 100%, respectively, in previously healthy children, and the 30-day mortality decreased by 64% among comorbid adults. The BM incidence in immunosuppressed patients increased by 3% annually post vaccine introduction. The 30-day mortality was 3% in children and 14% in adults, and the rate of severe sequelae was 44%. On average, patients lost 11 years of healthy life due to BM.
conclusionThe introduction of conjugated vaccines into the childhood vaccination program has reduced the incidence of BM in young children, but not in adults. Post vaccine introduction, patients present with more premorbid conditions and other bacterial causes of BM, emphasising the need for a correct diagnosis when treating these infections.
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