A Community outbreak of meningococcal serogroup B disease in Western Sydney: the challenges of identification and significance

Authors

  • Andrew Jardine National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital
  • George Truman Communicable Diseases and Immunisation Team, Sydney West Area Health Service, Penrith, New South Wales
  • Vicky Sheppeard Communicable Diseases and Immunisation Team, Sydney West Area Health Service, Penrith, New South Wales
  • Denise Gibbons Communicable Diseases and Immunisation Team, Sydney West Area Health Service, Penrith, New South Wales
  • Jane Thomas Communicable Diseases and Immunisation Team, Sydney West Area Health Service, Penrith, New South Wales
  • Kathryn Weston Communicable Diseases and Immunisation Team, Sydney West Area Health Service, Penrith, New South Wales

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33321/cdi.2009.33.23

Keywords:

meningococcal disease, outbreak, public health management, Neisseria meningitidis, prevention and control

Abstract

The Communicable Diseases Network Australia guidelines provide information for early clinical and public health management of meningococcal disease, including community outbreaks. While community outbreaks of meningococcal serogroup C infections have been reported, community outbreaks of meningococcal serogroup B infections have not been declared in Australia. Three cases of meningococcal serogroup B disease occurred in 2 adjacent suburbs in western Sydney in Spring 2008. Although the temporal and geographic proximity of these cases fulfilled the criteria for a community outbreak, difficulties in establishing an epidemiological or serosubgroup link, and arbitrary definition of the term 'community' provide challenges for identifying such outbreaks. In addition, the declaration of a community outbreak of meningococcal B infection does not provide guidance for the public health response because a vaccine is not available and community-wide prophylaxis is not recommended. Commun Dis Intell 2009;33:221–224.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Communicable Diseases Network Australia. Guidelines for the early clinical and public health management of meningococcal disease in Australia. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia; 2007.

Davison RP, Lovegrove DR, Selvey LA, Smith HV. Using the national guidelines to manage a meningococcal group C outbreak in a Brisbane boarding school—some discretionary judgements are needed. Commun Dis Intell 2003;27(4):520–523.

Miles TA, Lewis PR, Cook L, Bruderlin KI. An outbreak of meningococcal disease in a secondary school—implications for public health practice. Commun Dis Intell 2004;28(3):345–347.

Robinson P, Taylor K, Tallis G, Carnie J, Rouch G, Griffith J, et al. An outbreak of serogroup C meningococcal disease associated with a secondary school. Commun Dis Intell 2001;25(3):121–125.

Ferson M, Young M, Hansen G, Post J, Tapsall J, Shultz T, et al. Unusual cluster of mild invasive serogroup C meningococcal infection in a university college. Commun Dis Intell 1999;23(10):261–264.

Young MK, McCall BJ, Smith HV, Looke D. A family cluster of serogroup C meningococcal disease. Commun Dis Intell 2004;28(4):496–498.

Chant K, Stewart G, Brown J, Munro R, Toouli G, Kociuba K. A cluster of meningococcal cases in Campbelltown. NSW Public Health Bulletin 1992;3:93–94.

Jelfs J, Jalaludin B, Munro R, Patel M, Kerr M, Daley D, et al. A cluster of meningococcal disease in western Sydney, Australia initially associated with a nightclub. Epidemiol Infect 1998;120(3):263–270.

Australian Meningococcal Surveillance Programme. Annual report of the Australian Meningococcal Surveillance Programme, 2007. Commun Dis Intell 2008;32(3):299–307.

Jelfs J, Munro R. Epidemiology of meningococcal disease in Australia. J Paediatr Child Health 2001;37(5):S3–S6.

Isaac-Toua G, Guest C, Hiam R, Passaris I. Public health management of increased incidence of meningococcal disease in the Australian Capital Territory: 2003 to 2004. Commun Dis Intell 2007;31(1):112–118.

Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2006 census of population and housing: census data by location. Available from: http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/ABSNavigation/prenav/LocationSearch Accessed on 19 November 2008.

NSW Department of Health. Meningococcal disease questionnaire form. Available from: http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/resources/publichealth/infectious/diseases/Menigococcal/imd_core_data_form.pdf Accessed September 2008.

Baker MG, Martin DR, Kieft CEM, Lennon D. A 10-year serogroup B meningococcal disease epidemic in New Zealand: Descriptive epidemiology, 1991–2000. J Paediatr Child Health 2001;37(5):S13–S19.

Downloads

Published

01/06/09

How to Cite

Jardine, Andrew, George Truman, Vicky Sheppeard, Denise Gibbons, Jane Thomas, and Kathryn Weston. 2009. “A Community Outbreak of Meningococcal Serogroup B Disease in Western Sydney: The Challenges of Identification and Significance”. Communicable Diseases Intelligence 33 (June):221-24. https://doi.org/10.33321/cdi.2009.33.23.

Issue

Vol. 33 (2009)

Section

Short report

Categories

License

Copyright (c) 2009 Communicable Diseases Intelligence

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Most read articles by the same author(s)

1 2 > >>