[Incidence of pneumococcal disease in the autonomous Region of Madrid (1998--2006)].

Background And Objective: The availability of antipneumococcal vaccines makes it necessary to go deeply into the knowledge of pneumococcal disease. This study aims at describing the magnitude and incidence of pneumococcal disease in the Region of Madrid from 1998 to 2006.

Material And Method: Retrospective study of Computerized Hospital Discharge Data registered from 1998 to 2006. Incidence per 100,000 inhabitants and lethality were calculated. Temporal evolution was analyzed.

Results: 20,813 cases of pneumococcal disease were registered (annual average incidence 41.87/100,000 inhabitants). Incidence was 40.65 for pneumoniae and 0.77 for meningitis. People over 64 years old (185.04) and under 1 year of age (67.22) showed the highest incidence. Lethality was 10.1% (15.8% for meningitis). Incidence in 2004--2006 was lower than 1998--2000 (before the introduction of conjugate vaccine). Incidence trend has declined slightly.

Conclusions: The incidence is higher than that shown by other studies. Selected source of data can explain this difference, since our data included suspected cases. However, pneumococcal meningitis incidence is similar to that described by others.