Meningococcal disease

Household crowding and second-hand smoke exposure increase the risk of meningococcal disease

Meningococcal disease is a serious infection which can cause meningitis (an infection of membranes that covers the brain), septicaemia (blood poisoning), and even death. Household crowding increases the risk of meningococcal disease, particularly in those aged 0–16 years [1]. Second-hand smoke exposure is also associated with an increased risk of meningococcal disease in children [2,3].

Meningococcal disease notifications continue to decline in 2024

The number of meningococcal disease notifications among children aged 0–14 years continues to decline from 42 (4.4 per 100,000; 95%CI 3.1–5.9) in 2022 to 21 (2.2 per 100,000; 95%CI 1.3–3.3) in 2023 and 18 (1.8 per 100,000; 95%CI 1.1–2.9) in 2024 (Figure 1). This decrease has been driven by a drop in the number of notifications among children under five years old

 Figure 1: Number of meningococcal disease notifications in children aged 0–14 years, 2001–2024 

Information about this data

Meningococcal disease notifications

Source: EpiSurv notifications surveillance database, Public Health and Forensic Science (PHF Science – formerly ESR).

Definition: Notifications of meningococcal disease in children aged 0–14 years. Notifications only cover those people who visited a GP or received hospital treatment, and therefore may underestimate the true rate of disease in the population.