Hospital admissions for bacterial meningitis during 2019–2020 in Brazil

Garcez, V.; Correa, T.

Background and aims: Bacterial meningitis is a prevalent concern in low and middle-income countries, accounting for a high number of deaths and hospitalizations. This study aims to evaluate the epidemiology of hospitalizations for bacterial meningitis in Brazil during 2019 and 2020. Methods: Cross-sectional, descriptive and retrospective study, which evaluated the epidemiology of hospital admissions for bacterial meningitis in the Brazilian National Health System in the years 2019 and 2020. Hospital admissions were evaluated by sex, race and age group using the national database (DATASUS – Department of Informatics of the Unified Health System). Results: There was a total of 6921 hospitalizations for bacterial meningitis, being 4091 (59.1%) from 2019 and 2830 (40.9%) from 2020. In addition, 3922 (56.6%) patients were male and 2999 (43.4%) were female. Regarding race, 2421 (35%) considered themselves white, 2710 (39%) brown, 275 (4%) black, 130 (2%) yellow, 31 (0.5%) indigenous and 1354 (19.5%) did not have skin color informed. Regarding age groups;1156 (16.7%) were < 1 year old, 796 (11.5%) were 1–4, 560 (8.1%) were 5–9, 439 (6.3%) were 10–49, 426 (6.2%) were 15–19, 818 (11.8%) were 20–29, 730 (10.5%) were 30–39, 641 (9.3%) were 40–49, 625 (9%) were 50–59, 436 (6.3%) were 60–69, 209 (3%) were 70–79, 85 (1.3%) were > 80. Conclusions: The majority of patients hospitalized for bacterial meningitis disease were male, brown and < 1 year old. There was a decrease in hospital admissions for bacterial meningitis from 2019 to 2020, which may be related to the increased social isolation due to COVID-19.