An Epidemiological Study and Seasonal Variation in Eosinophilic Meningitis
Noppadol Aekphachaisawat MSc1, Somsak Tiamkao MD2, Panita Limpawattana MD2, Verajit Chotmongkol MD2, Kittisak Sawanyawisuth MD, PhD2, Chetta Ngamjarus PhD3
Affiliation : 1 PhD student in Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand 2 Department of Medicine and Ambulatory Medicine Research Group, Faculty of Medicine; Research Center in Back, Neck and Other Joint Pain and Human Performance and Sleep Apnea Research Group, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand 3 Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Faculty of Public Health, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
Eosinophilic meningitis is endemic in Thailand. There is limited data on its epidemiological data and seasonal variation. This study reviewed a 2017 annual report of the National Disease Surveillance, Bureau of Epidemiology, Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand. The annual report comprised of numbers of patients, morbidity rate, mortality rate, age group, nationality, and occupations of patients diagnosed with eosinophilic meningitis by months, a public health zone, and provinces. There are currently 13 public health zones throughout Thailand and 76 provinces plus one capital city; Bangkok. There were 189 patients diagnosed with eosinophilic meningitis throughout Thailand in 2017. All patients were Thai. The common age groups were between 25 and 54 years (129 patients; 68.25%). The majority of patients were male (115 patients; 60.85%), agriculturists (88 patients; 46.56%) and lived in the northeastern part of Thailand (182 patients; 96.30%). The mortality rate was zero. Loei province had the highest number of patients and morbidity rate of Thailand at 63.49% and 18.85/100,000 population. The most common season for eosinophilic meningitis in Thailand was a rainy season (90 patients; 47.62%). Only differences by provinces were significantly related to numbers of eosinophilic meningitis by seasons (p-value = 0.004). In conclusion, the northeastern part of Thailand particularly Loei province is still endemic for eosinophilic meningitis. The infection is more prominent in working-aged male in the rainy season.
Keywords : Angiostrongylus cantonensis, Morbidity, Mortality
