Dados do Trabalho

Título

Hospitalization for meningitis in the Northeast region of Brazil in the pre-pandemic and pandemic period (2018-2021): an ecological time series study

Resumo

Background: The meningitis refers to an inflammatory process in the meninges. It can be caused by an infectious etiology, whose pathological agents are bacteria, viruses and fungi; as well as it can be a non-infectious etiology, being triggered by trauma, drugs and other mechanisms. The meningitis has the highest morbidity and mortality rates among central nervous system infections, and is therefore considered a severe public health problem. Objective: To analyze the variation in the number of hospitalization for meningitis in the Northeast of Brazil during the pre-pandemic (2018-2019) and pandemic period (2020-2021). Methodology: This is an ecological time-series study that estimated the number of hospitalizations and hospital detection rate of meningitis using data from the SUS’s Hospital Information System (SIA/SUS). The data were obtained from the Tabnet Platform (DATASUS), being analyzed according to the variables age, sex, color/race, comparing those findings in the pre-pandemic and pandemic period. Results: 2,756 hospitalizations were registered in this period, with a decrease of 0.2 in incidence per 10,000 inhabitants, between 2020 and 2021. Hospitalizations for meningitis due to parasitic infections represented 0.6% of all causes, showing a 21% drop in the number of hospitalizations corresponding to this etiology in the years 2020 to 2021. Other causes of meningitis were responsible for 114 hospitalizations, which 46% occurred in the pandemic period. Men, people under 70 years of age and people of mixed race represented the largest number of hospitalizations, corresponding to 56.09% (1,546), 96.84% (2,669) and 58.27% (1,606), respectively. Conclusion: The lower number of hospitalizations for meningitis, may have been a reflection of the underreporting that occurred during the years 2020 and 2021 as a result of the attention paid to cases of Covid-19. Besides, the viral form of meningitis is the most prevalent in Brazil. Therefore, infections by SARS-Cov-2 could justify the large number of hospitalizations in the pandemic period. The lower rates of meningitis due to parasitic infection may have been a consequence of the unrestricted use of antiparasitic drugs for prophylactic purposes of Covid-19 during the last two years analyzed. Considering the importance of meningitis, the results obtained in the present analysis denote the need for more research to investigate and deepen the associations between the different variables of the condition.