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The Dutch Meningitis Cohort Study was a partially industry-sponsored, nationwide observational study of patients aged ≥16 years with community-acquired bacterial meningitis diagnosed between October 1998 and April 2002. All patients had bacterial meningitis confirmed by cerebrospinal fluid culture, tested at the Netherlands Reference Laboratory for Bacterial Meningitis.
The researchers identified 258 cases of meningococcal meningitis (annual incidence, 1 case per 100,000 adults). The patients had a median age of 36; 52% were male. Seizures before admission were documented in only two cases. Forty-nine percent of the patients had acute illness onset (defined as symptom duration <24 hours before admission). The triad of fever, neck stiffness, …