摘要：In 1987 an unexpected change in the epidemiology of meningococcal disease began in Australia.The change was accompanied by an outbreak of serogroup A meningococcal disease amongAboriginal central Australians, and was followed by a progressive rise in notifications of diseasecaused by both serogroup B and C nationwide. Over the last 4 years, the notification rate hasplateaued at 2.1-2.3 per 100,000 population. Virulent clonal groups of serogroup A and Cmeningococci that have caused outbreaks appear to be identical to strains that have caused largeoutbreaks in other countries. We cannot predict where and when the next outbreak will occur.However, we can plan to respond swiftly when it does. This report presents an overview of theobserved trends, the association between the microbiology and epidemiology of meningococcaldisease, and the relevance of this association to outbreaks, with recommendations formanagement
