Impact of meningitis between the years 2010 to 2020 in Brazil: A documentary study

um estudo documental

Abstract

Introduction: meningitis is an infection that affects the membranes that line the brain and spinal cord, being included in the National List of Compulsory Reporting Diseases. Objective: to investigate the epidemiological profile of people affected by meningitis in Brazil, between the years 2010 to 2020. Materials and methods: This is an epidemiological, retrospective, analytical and documentary study, through which information about confirmed cases in Brazil were extracted through the Department of Informatics of the Unified Health System (DATASUS). For statistical analysis, the Statistical Package for Social Sciences software (version 20.0) was used. Results: In the period analyzed, 187,508 cases of meningitis were reported, with 2012 being the year with the highest number of cases (11.6%). The region with the highest number of deaths was the Southeast (54.2%), with São Paulo as the state with the highest number of notifications (41%). The profile was predominantly composed of male individuals (59.1%), aged between ≤1 to 9 years (47%) and viral etiology (45.5%). The chemocytological method was the most used (60.9%), in which patients progressed to discharge (75.8%). In addition, bacterial meningitis (1.8/100,000 population) had the highest mortality rate, while meningococcemia had the highest fatality rate (36.7%). There was a positive statistical association between the variables: number of deaths and age group, number of deaths and gender and number of deaths and etiology. Conclusion: it is essential to adopt public policies aimed at populations at risk, and this study is useful in the construction of such projects.