Epidemiological characteristics of invasive meningococcal disease in the Split-Dalmatia County 1996-2010.

The aim of this paper is to present epidemiological features of reported patients with invasive meningococcal disease in the Split-Dalmatia County in the period from January 1996 to December 2010. During the 15-year period (1996-2010), a total of 119 patients were reported to have invasive meningococcal disease, yielding a mean annual incidence rate of 1.7/100,000 inhabitants. There were 69 (58%) male and 50 (42%) female patients. Five of 119 patients died, yielding a case fatality rate of 4.2%. Among 83/119 (70%) cases with proven etiology, serogroup was determined in 56/83 (67.5%) patients, whereas in 28/83 (32.5%) patients serogroup could not be determined. The most common serogroup was B, found in 43/56 (76.8%) patients. During the 1996-2010 period, dissemination of the disease in epidemic proportions was not recorded.