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

Abstract

<b>Context:</b> 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. <b>Aims:</b> To study some epidemiological factors of acute meningitis. <b>Setting and Design:</b> Hospital based cross sectional study. <b>Materials and Methods:</b> Detailed clinical examination of all clinically suspected cases of meningitis was done. Blood and cerebro spinal fluid culture was done. <b>Statistical Analysis Used:</b> Fisher exact test, <i>P</i> < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. <b>Results:</b> 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, <i>P</i> = 1). The association between the gender and the mortality was not statistically significant (Fisher's exact test, <i>P</i> = 0.3). Based on the culture examination there were 16 cases of confirmed bacterial meningitis. Commonest isolate was <i>Klebsiella pneumoniae</i> as seen in five cases (31.2%). <i>Neisseria meningitides, H influenzae,</i> or <i>Streptococcus pneumoniae</i> were not isolated in any case. <b>Conclusion:</b> Acute bacterial meningitis is still an important public health problem with a high case fatality rate.