Voelk, Stefanie and Pfirrmann, Markus and Koedel, Uwe and Pfister, Hans-Walter and Lang, Thomas and Scheibe, Franziska and Salih, Farid and Herzig-Nichtweiss, Julia and Zimmermann, Julian and Alonso, Angelika and Wittstock, Matthias and Totzeck, Andreas and Schramm, Patrick and Schirotzek, Ingo and Onur, Oezguer A. and Pelz, Johann Otto and Ottomeyer, Caroline and Luger, Sebastian and Barlinn, Kristian and Binder, Tobias and Woebker, Gabriele and Reimann, Gernot and Urbanek, Christian and Heckelmann, Jan and Lochner, Piergiorgio and Berghoff, Martin and Schoenenberger, Silvia and Neumann, Bernhard and Niesen, Wolf-Dirk and Dohmen, Christian and Huttner, Hagen B. and Guenther, Albrecht and Klein, Matthias (2022) Decline in the number of patients with meningitis in German hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic. JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY, 269 (7). pp. 3389-3399. ISSN 0340-5354, 1432-1459
Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy)Abstract
Background and objectives In 2020, a wide range of hygiene measures was implemented to mitigate infections caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In consequence, pulmonary infections due to other respiratory pathogens also decreased. Here, we evaluated the number of bacterial and viral meningitis and encephalitis cases during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Methods In a multicentre retrospective analysis of data from January 2016 until December 2020, numbers of patients diagnosed with bacterial meningitis and other types of CNS infections (such as viral meningitis and encephalitis) at 26 German hospitals were studied. Furthermore, the number of common meningitis-preceding ear-nose-throat infections (sinusitis, mastoiditis and otitis media) was evaluated. Results Compared to the previous years, the total number of patients diagnosed with pneumococcal meningitis was reduced (n = 64 patients/year in 2020 vs. n = 87 to 120 patients/year between 2016 and 2019, all p < 0.05). Additionally, the total number of patients diagnosed with otolaryngological infections was significantly lower (n = 1181 patients/year in 2020 vs. n = 1525 to 1754 patients/year between 2016 and 2019, all p < 0.001). We also observed a decline in viral meningitis and especially enterovirus meningitis (n = 25 patients/year in 2020 vs. n = 97 to 181 patients/year between 2016 and 2019, all p < 0.001). Discussion This multicentre retrospective analysis demonstrates a decline in the number of patients treated for viral and pneumococcal meningitis as well as otolaryngological infections in 2020 compared to previous years. Since the latter often precedes pneumococcal meningitis, this may point to the significance of the direct spread of pneumococci from an otolaryngological focus such as mastoiditis to the brain as one important pathophysiological route in the development of pneumococcal meningitis.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | INVASIVE PNEUMOCOCCAL DISEASE; IMPACT; RISK; Meningitis; COVID-19 pandemic; Streptococcus pneumoniae; Enterovirus |
| Subjects: | 600 Technology > 610 Medical sciences Medicine |
| Divisions: | Medicine > Lehrstuhl für Neurologie |
| Depositing User: | Dr. Gernot Deinzer |
| Date Deposited: | 12 Dec 2023 14:33 |
| Last Modified: | 12 Dec 2023 14:33 |
| URI: | https://pred.uni-regensburg.de/id/eprint/58711 |
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