Purulent meningitis in children: An experience in a pediatric ward

Proceedings of Neurology 2021&Cognitive Neuroscience 2021&Child Psychology 2021

February 22-23, 2021 | Webinar

Imene Moalla, F.Safi, M.Hsairi and A.Mahfoudh

Hedi Chaker Hospital, Tunisia

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Neurol Disord

Abstract :

Childhood purulent meningitis remains frequent, causing significant infant morbidity and mortality. The urgency of the diagnosis and the early treatment will determine the short and long term prognosis. This is a retrospective study of all cases of purulent meningitis in children collected from January 2005 to December 2018. Twenty-five cases of purulent meningitis (PM) were collected. The hospital incidence of PM was 1.78 cases / year. The sex ratio was 1.27 with a male predominance of 56%. The average age of our patients was 56.16 months. Fever was present in 92% of cases, headache in 52% of cases, vomiting in 72% of cases, abdominal pain in 16% of cases, lethargy in 40% of cases, confusion in 24% of cases, convulsions in 16% of cases, arthralgia in 20% of cases and photophobia in 16% of cases. Culture of the CSF showed Haemophilus influenzae type b in 3 cases and Pneumoniae Streptococcus in one case. Brain scan was performed in 20 patients and was found to be pathologic in 7 of them (28%). Cerebral MRI was done in 3 cases (12%) and was found to be pathological in all cases. First-line antibiotic therapy was based on Cefotaxime vancomycin in 20 cases (80%). Dexamethasone was prescribed in 14 cases. The outcome was favorable in the short term in 80% of cases. Long-term complications included right axial proptosis with arachnoidocele complicating orbit collection in one case and bilateral demyelizing optic neuropathy in another case.

Biography :

Imene Molla has completed her PhD at the age of 25 years from faculty of Medecine, Sfax university. She is an student in pediatrics since 2016.