Reliability of notification data for childhood bacterial meningitis

This study reports the notification rates over ten years (1980-1989) for 232 children with documented bacterial meningitis in Nottingham District Health Authority. The average notification rate was approximately 50 per cent of known cases. It was higher for meningococcal infections (57/84, 68 per cent) than for any other type (45/148, 30 per cent), and lower in neonates (1/29, 3 per cent) than in any other age group (101/203, 50 per cent). The results show that the notification rates required to be adjusted during the decade of the study (1980-1989). The achievement of better notification rates may now be more feasible since implementation of the recommendations of the Committee of Inquiry into the Future Development of the Public Health Function for the control of communicable diseases. This paper provides a baseline upon which to measure the impact of such changes.