Signs and symptoms cards
Leaflets
Meningitis can affect anyone
- NICE clinical guideline 102 http://guidance.nice.org.uk/CG102/Guidance
- HPA Meningococcus Forum (2002, updated Feb 2018) Guidance for public health management of meningococcal disease in the UK. http://www.hpa.org.uk/web/HPAwebFile/HPAweb_C/1194947389261
After meningitis
- NICE clinical guideline 102 http://guidance.nice.org.uk/CG102/Guidance
- McGill F, et al., The UK joint specialist societies guideline on the diagnosis and management of acute meningitis and meningococcal sepsis in immunocompetent adults, J Infect (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jinf.2016.01.007
- Patient experience
- Shears D, Nadel S, Gledhill J, Gorden F, Garralda ME (2007) Psychiatric adjustment in the year after meningococcal disease in childhood. Journal of American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 46(1): 76-82
- Borg J, Christie D, Coen PG, Booy R and Viner RM (2009) Outcomes of meningococcal disease in adolescents: prospective matched cohort study. Paediatrics. 123(3): e502 – e509
- Viner R, Booy R, Johnson H et al (2012) Outcomes of invasive meningococcal serogroup B disease in children and adolescents (MOSAIC): a case control study. Lancet Neurology. 11(9): 774 - 783
Bereavement following meningitis
- Expert opinion from counsellors
- Catherine Sanders (1999) Grief The Mourning After, 2nd Ed., John Wiley & Sons Inc. pp.4-5
Your Guide
- All references are included in My Guide and also in the additional fact sheets. They were developed in response to the NICE Quality Standard: http://publications.nice.org.uk/quality-standard-for-bacterial-meningitis-and-meningococcal-septicaemia-in-children-and-young-qs19
Fact Sheets
Meningococcal disease
- NICE Clinical Guideline 102 http://guidance.nice.org.uk/CG102/Guidance
- Parikh SR1, Campbell H2, Gray SJ et al. Epidemiology, clinical presentation, risk factors, intensive care admission and outcomes of invasive meningococcal disease in England, 2010-2015. Vaccine. 2018 Jun 2018;36(26)
- Viner RM1, Booy R, Johnson H, et al. Outcomes of invasive meningococcal serogroup B disease in children and adolescents (MOSAIC): a case-control study. Lancet Neurol. 2012 Sep;11(9):774-83
- Public Heath England. The complete routine immunisation schedule (link to: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-complete-routine-immunisation-schedule
- Oxford Vaccine Group, Meningococcal disease information https://vk.ovg.ox.ac.uk/vk/meningococcal-disease
Pneumococcal meningitis
- NICE Clinical Guideline 102 http://guidance.nice.org.uk/CG102/Guidance
- Department of Health. Immunisation against infectious disease. Chapter 25. 2018 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/674074/GB_Chapter_25_Pneumococcal_V7_0.pdf
- Public Health England. Managing clusters of pneumococcal disease in closed settings (2008) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/managing-clusters-of-pneumococcal-disease-in-closed-settings
Tuberculous (TB) meningitis
- Thwaites G, Chau TTH, Mai NTH, Drobniewski F, McAdam K, Farrar J (2000) Tuberculosis meningitis. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 68: 289 - 299. http://jnnp.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/68/3/289
- NICE Clinical Guideline NG33 https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng33
- Department of Health. Immunisation against infectious disease. Chapter 32. 2018 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/731848/_Greenbook_chapter_32_Tuberculosis_.pdf
- Thwaites G. (2017) Tuberculous meningitis. Medicine 45:11 670-673
- Thwaite G, Fisher M, Hemingway C et al. (2009) British Infection Society guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis of the central nervous system in adults and children. The Journal of infection 59(3):167-87
- www.tbalert.org
- Davis AG, Meintjes G & Wilkinson RJ. (2018) Treatment of Tuberculous Meningitis and Its Complications in Adults. Curr Treat Options Neurol. 20: 5
Viral meningitis
- Logan S and MacMahon E. Viral meningitis. BMJ. 2008 336: 36 – 40
- McGill F, Griffiths M, Bonnett L et al. Incidence aetiology and sequalae of viral meningitis in UK adults: a multicentre prospective observation short study. Lancet Infect Dis. 2018 Sep;2018(9):992-1003
- Meningitis Now (Meningitis Trust) survey 2012 – summary attached to fact sheet
- Expert opinion
- Listeria meningitis - https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/listeriosis/
- Cryptococcal meningitis - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK525986/
- Mollerets meningitis: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC274424
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10239340/#:~:text=Mollaret's%20meningitis%20is%20a%20rare,Mollaret%20in%201944%20%5B4%5D.
Meningitis vaccines
- https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanchi/article/PIIS2352-4642(22)00379-0/fulltext
- Department of Health. Immunisation against infectious disease. Chapters 7, 11,16,21,22,23,25 and 32. 2013 with updates https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immunisation-against-infectious-disease-the-green-book
- https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/
- Ladhani, Shamez N et al. “First Real-world Evidence of Meningococcal Group B Vaccine, 4CMenB, Protection Against Meningococcal Group W Disease: Prospective Enhanced National Surveillance, England.” Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America vol. 73,7 (2021): e1661-e1668. doi:10.1093/cid/ciaa1244
- https://www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk/advice/general-travel-health-advice/hajj-and-umrah-pilgrimage
Learning and developmental concerns after meningitis and meningococcal septicaemia
- Expert opinion
- Child Brain Injury Trust workshop “Don’t judge a book by its cover”
- De Louvois J, Halket S, Harvey D (2006) Effect of meningitis in infancy on school leaving examination results. Arch. Dis. Child. Online doi: 10.1136/adc2006.105916
- Viner R, Booy R, Johnson H et al (2012) Outcomes of invasive meningococcal serogroup B disease in children and adolescents (MOSAIC): a case control study. Lancet Neurology. 11(9): 774 - 78
Neonatal meningitis (including GBS and E coli)
- Group B Streptococcus (GBS) in pregnancy and newborn babies: information for you. Royal College Obstetricians & Gynaecologists (December 2017)
- de Louvois J, Halket S, Harvey D (2005) Neonatal meningitis in England and Wales: sequelae at 5 years of age. European Journal of Paediatrics. 164: 730-734
- Okike, IO; Ladhani, SN; Johnson et al. (2018) Clinical Characteristics and Risk Factors for Poor Outcome in Infants Less Than 90 Days of Age with Bacterial Meningitis in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Paediatric Infectious Disease Journal, 37 (9)
- Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Group B Streptococcal Disease, Early-onset (Green-top Guideline No. 36) Third Edition: https://www.rcog.org.uk/en/guidelines-research-services/guidelines/gtg36/
- Ku LC, Boggess KA, Cohen-Wolkowiez M. Bacterial meningitis in infants. Clin Perinatol. 2015 Mar;42(1):29-45, vii-viii. doi: 10.1016/j.clp.2014.10.004. Epub 2014 Dec 6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4332563/
- Expert opinion
Disease statistics
The following sources are used for information materials containing disease statistics:
- UKHSA https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/meningococcal-disease-guidance-data-and-analysis
- Health Protection Scotland http://www.hps.scot.nhs.uk/ewr/index.aspx
- Wales https://phw.nhs.wales/topics/immunisation-and-vaccines/meningitis-and-meningococcal-disease/
- Public Health Northern Ireland http://www.publichealth.hscni.net/directorate-public-health/health-protection/notifications-infectious-diseases
Where specific disease statistics are not available, estimates are based on expert opinion.
Last updated June 2025
Next review due before June 2027