Meningococcal disease is mostly endemic in Latin America, with periodic occurrences of outbreaks and epidemics over the last few decades. This literature review summarizes the available epidemiological data for this region between 1945 and 2010. Incidence rates and serogroup distribution differ from country to country and over time. Serogroups A, B, and C have all been major causes of meningococcal disease since the 1970s. In the last decade serogroups W135 and Y may now be emerging in certain countries, with serogroup A virtually disappearing. Although progress has been made in improving and coordinating the surveillance of invasive disease, the uniformity and quality of reported data reflect the fact that the current surveillance systems focus on passive rather than active reporting, hence the reliability of data may vary between countries. Consideration of vaccination policies to control meningococcal disease can only be made with a sufficient understanding of the changing epidemiology in the region.

To gain insight into pertussis disease dynamics, we studied age-specific long-term periodicity and seasonality of pertussis in The Netherlands. Hierarchical time-series models were used to analyse the monthly reported pertussis incidence in January 1996–June 2006 by age group. The incidence of pertussis showed a slightly increasing long-term trend with highest incidence rates seen in 1996, 1999, 2001 and 2004. For all age groups the annual peak incidence was found in August, except for the 13–18 years age group where the peak occurred in November. Monthly trends in adults showed high correlation with trends in age groups 0–4 years (0·94) and 5–12 years (0·92). We found no evidence for a relationship between annual rises in pertussis and the opening of schools. Concurrent annual fluctuations of pertussis incidence in adults and infants suggest frequent transmission within and between these age groups. Studying trends offers insight into transmission dynamics and may facilitate decisions on future vaccination strategies.