Survey of the prescribing of chemoprophylaxis to index cases of invasive meningococcal disease

Chemoprophylaxis is given to contacts of cases of invasive meningococcal disease to reduce the risk of secondary cases by eradicating carriage. In the United Kingdom index cases are also recommended to receive chemoprophylaxis. This is usually undertaken by the clinical team managing the case. One h...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Communicable disease and public health 2000-12, Vol.3 (4), p.271-273
Main Authors: Heywood, P, Holtby, I
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antibiotic Prophylaxis - statistics & numerical data
Antibiotic Prophylaxis - utilization
Carrier State - drug therapy
Health Care Surveys
Humans
Meningococcal Infections - drug therapy
Meningococcal Infections - prevention & control
Practice Patterns, Physicians' - statistics & numerical data
Risk Factors
Severity of Illness Index
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Chemoprophylaxis is given to contacts of cases of invasive meningococcal disease to reduce the risk of secondary cases by eradicating carriage. In the United Kingdom index cases are also recommended to receive chemoprophylaxis. This is usually undertaken by the clinical team managing the case. One hundred and fifty cases of probable meningococcal infection notified to the consultants in communicable disease control in a local health authority were reviewed to identify the proportion receiving chemoprophylaxis and to examine the final clinical outcome, in terms of diagnosis, of each case. Twenty-five per cent of notified cases (37) did not receive chemoprophylaxis and this proportion varied significantly between three local hospitals. We estimate that 15 of the 37 index cases who did not receive chemoprophylaxis were likely to have had invasive meningococcal disease.
ISSN:1462-1843