Meningitis: describing the community health problem.

We identified all 391 cases of meningitis hospitalized in a metropolitan community (population 367,094) over a four-year period to assess incidence, morbidity, and mortality. The crude incidence rate was 27 per 100,000 person years; the incidence rate for children under 5 years of age was 174 per 100,000 person years. The case fatality rate was 3 per cent. Bacterial organisms were identified in 33 per cent of all cases, with H. influenzae most commonly observed (53 per cent). Only 16 per cent of hospitalized cases were known to the county health department.