Bacterial and prognostic profile of nosocomial meningitis in newborns

Abstract

Introduction: Nosocomial neonatal meningitis is particularly dreadful because it occurs in patients of immature immunity and a developing brain. It is always a challenge for the clinician due to its clinical polymorphism making the diagnosis often difficult Aim: To study the epidemiological, clinical, bacteriological, therapeutic and evolutionary aspects of neonatal nosocomial bacterial meningitis. Results: Through our series, we reported fourteen cases of nosocomial meningitis, ie 43% of meningitis recorded over the study period. A male predominance was observed in 57.1%. The newborns were preterm in 28% of cases and had low birth weight in 42% of cases. The germ isolated was Klebsiella pneumoniae in 28.4% of cases. The blood culture was positive in 64% of cases. The same germ was isolated in both blood and the cerebrospinal fluid in 42% of cases. The complications found were: ventriculitis (28.5%), triventricular and tetraventricular hydrocephalus (14.2%) and multiple cerebral abscesses (14.2%). The mortality rate recorded in our series was 28.5%. Conclusion: Nosocomial meningitis is a serious or even fatal condition requiring early diagnosis and adequate antimacrobial therapy. Prevention remains the best strategy for the battle against this infection