Outbreak of serogroup C meningococcal disease in Veneto region, Italy

Meningococcal infections occur worldwide as endemic disease; there have also been outbreaks in Europe and in the Americas in the last 30 years but they have not reached the high incidence levels of epidemics in other parts of the world. Between 13 and 15 December 2007, seven cases of meningitis caused by N. meningitidis were reported in the Treviso area, region of Veneto in north-eastern Italy.Educating the general population as well as physicians and other health-care workers about meningococcal disease has also been considered an important element of the management of this outbreak.