Group B meningococcal infection in children during an epidemic in Cape Town, South Africa.

One hundred and thirteen children with meningococcal infection were studied during an epidemic caused by N. meningitidis group B. Fifteen per cent presented with only meningeal symptoms, the remainder showed signs of septicaemia or combined septicaemia and meningitis. Sixteen per cent of the children were in shock and 18% required admission to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). The mortality was 4.4%. More than half the children were younger than 2 years old. There was no statistical association between the age or nutritional state of the children and any of our measures of severity. A short history of symptoms was more common in children who presented with septicaemia and severe illness, who needed admission to the ICU, or who died. Diagnosis was confirmed by routine bacteriological methods and counter-immuno-electrophoresis (CIE) in 104 children. Eighty-six per cent of the isolates were group B type 2. A history of recent antibiotic treatment was associated with fewer positive cultures, but detection of meningococcal antigen by CIE was not affected by this. CIE antigen detection was not reliable because of the high incidence of false-negative results.