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Cancer patients are thought to be at increased risk for meningitis. To assess the incidence and characteristics of bacterial meningitis in cancer patients older than 16 years of age, investigators in the Netherlands analyzed data from a nationwide prospective cohort study of bacterial meningitis (March 2006 to September 2014) and from Dutch national data on cancer.
Of 1351 episodes of bacterial meningitis, 168 (12%) occurred in patients with active cancer or a history of cancer. The annual incidence of bacterial meningitis among cancer patients, compared with the general population, was 2.71-fold higher in 2010 and 3.52-fold higher in 2013. The most common solid-organ cancers were breast and lung cancer; the most common hematologic malignanc…