A 12 year review of the antibiotic managementof Hemophilus influenzae meningitis: Comparison of ampicillin and conventional therapy includingchloramphenicol

Abstract

The medical records of 253 children with Hemophilus influenzae meningitis treatedfrom 1959 through 1970 were reviewed. One hundred and sixteen patients received ampicillin alone, and 112 patients received chloramphenicol alone or in combination with other antibiotics. The children in the two treatment groups were matched as to sex, race, and severity of illness, but there were more young infants in the chloramphenicol group than in the ampicillin group. The over-all frequency of bacteriologically positive spinal fluid cultures after initiation of antimicrobial therapy was identical in the two groups (4.5 per cent). However, "late-convalescent" spinal fluid cultures were positive in four of the patients treated with chloramphenicol and in none of the group treated with ampicillin. The mortality rate and incidence of complications (subdural effusion and/or neurologic sequelae) were similar in the two treatment groups.