[Epidemiology of Haemophilus influenzae type b meningitis in 2 French departments].

Meningitis represents a frequent and severe expression of Haemophilus influenzae type b disease. The results of a 7 year-epidemiologic study (Jan 1980 to Dec 1986) undertaken in 2 French departments are reported herein. One hundred and twenty-three cases of meningitis were detected, representing a yearly rate of 15 cases for 100,000 children aged 0 to 4 years. The real incidence is probably higher and has been estimated as 17/100,000 which corresponds to 572 annual cases for the entire country. The death rate was 3.3% and severe sequelae were documented in 1.6%. To these should be added less severe neurologic (9%) and hearing (2.4%) deficits. These results show that the incidence of meningitis is comparable to the rate observed in Northern Europe but lower than the one reported in the United States. However, the rates of mortality and of neurologic deficit published in recent studies are comparable to those in the present report. Hearing sequelae are probably underestimated and would need systematic screening during the immediate follow-up period.