Bacterial meningitis surveillance in the Eastern Mediterranean region, 2005-2010: successes and challenges of a regional network.

Objective: To describe epidemiology of bacterial meningitis in the World Health Organization Eastern Mediterranean Region countries and assist in introduction of new bacterial vaccines.

Study Design: A laboratory-based sentinel surveillance was established in 2004, and up to 10 countries joined the network until 2010. Personnel at participating hospitals and national public health laboratories received training in surveillance and laboratory methods and used standard clinical and laboratory-confirmed case definitions.