The fatal impact of meningitis among children and young people is on the wane, partly because of earlier recognition and treatment, researchers suggest today, writes James Meikle .

Two specialist studies show steep falls in death rates, although the reasons are not clear. Among patients at Alder Hey children's hospital, Liverpool, aged between two months and 16 years between 1995 and 1998, 11 out of 123 died, or 9% - against 25% forecast by models based on the severity of meningococcal disease, according to an article in Archives of Disease in Childhood.

A second study in the same journal, based on 331 children aged between two and 17 admitted to St Mary's hospital, London, over five years, found deaths from meningitis in southern England fell by almost 60%.

The fall was variously ascribed to increased public and medical awareness, better prevention, earlier treatment and a new vaccine for meningitis C.