Characteristics of meningococcal disease
The two major clinical forms of meningococcal disease are meningitis and septicaemia. Most patients will have a mixed presentation. A minority will have pure septicaemia and it is these patients who carry the worst prognosis and maximum effort must be made to identify them early12. There are important differences in the pathophysiology of meningitis and septicaemia which underlie the clinical presentation and management of the two main forms of the condition (see pathophysiology).
