Intracranial infected collections and epidemiology in the top end, Northern Territory, Australia. A 10-year case series.

Abstract

The incidence of intracranial infected collections (IIC) ranges between 0.4 and 1.2/100 000 persons per year. There is anecdotal evidence that residents in Top End of the Northern Territory are at a greater risk of infections with protracted clinical presentations. To our knowledge, there is no study to date to explore IIC in the Top End. Retrospective observational analysis of IIC in the Top End, Northern Territory, Australia from 2009 to 2019. International classification of disease code G06 was used to identify cases diagnosed at Royal Darwin, Gove District and Katherine Hospital with no restriction of age or gender. A total of 51 cases were identified. This equated to an incidence of 2.9 (95% CI 2.2-3.8) in 100 000 PPY. When separated into Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations, the respective incidences were 8.65 (95% CI 6.2-12.1) and 1.1 (95% CI 0.7-1.9) in 100 000 PPY. The Indigenous population was at a significantly higher risk of IIC compared with non-Indigenous Australians with a relative risk of 7.3 (P< 0.0001 95% CI 4.0-13.3). The most common aetiology was otogenic infections with all cases being identified in the Indigenous population. Comparison of other clinical parameters between the two populations were not statistically significant. Within the limitations of a retrospective study, the incidence of IICs is higher in the Top End than reported elsewhere in the literature. This is particularly true for the Indigenous population.