Table 1.

Case definition for invasive meningococcal disease, used for notification to the national level in the Netherlands (OSIRIS)

A person with at least one of the following symptoms:

• Fever

• Neck stiffness

• Petechiae

• Septic shock

• Septic arthritis

In combination with at least one of the following laboratory criteria:

• Detection of N. meningitidis by culture of normally sterile material (e.g. blood or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF))

• Detection of gram-negative diplococci in CSF, blood or biopsy of petechiae

• Detection of DNA of N. meningitidis by PCR of normally sterile material (e.g. blood or CSF)