Epidemiological study of acute bacterial meningitis in admitted children below twelve years of age in a tertiary care teaching hospital in Pune, India

• Main Authors: Dhrubajyoti J Debnath, Arun Wanjpe, Vandana Kakrani, Samir Singru
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2012-01-01
• Series: Medical Journal of Dr. D.Y. Patil University
• Subjects: Acute bacterial meningitis; case fatality; surveillance; under-five mortality
• Online Access: http://www.mjdrdypu.org/article.asp?issn=0975-2870;year=2012;volume=5;issue=1;spage=28;epage=30;aulast=Debnath

Context: The community incidence of acute bacterial meningitis in India is not known. There is a need for a periodic review of bacterial meningitis worldwide, since the pathogens responsible for the infection vary with time, geography, and patient age. Aims: To study some epidemiological factors of acute meningitis. Setting and Design: Hospital based cross sectional study. Materials and Methods: Detailed clinical examination of all clinically suspected cases of meningitis was done. Blood and cerebro spinal fluid culture was done. Statistical Analysis Used: Fisher exact test, P < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: There were 79 suspected cases of meningitis, majority of cases (74.7%) were under-fives. The case fatality rate (CFR) was 13.9% with a confidence interval ranging from 5.9 to 21.5%. The association between the age and the mortality was not statistically significant. (Fisher′s exact test, P = 1). The association between the gender and the mortality was not statistically significant (Fisher′s exact test, P = 0.3). Based on the culture examination there were 16 cases of confirmed bacterial meningitis. Commonest isolate was Klebsiella pneumoniae as seen in five cases (31.2%). Neisseria meningitides, H influenzae, or Streptococcus pneumoniae were not isolated in any case. Conclusion: Acute bacterial meningitis is still an important public health problem with a high case fatality rate.