Clinical Features and Prognosis in Childhood Pneumococcal Meningitis

In this study, 50 children with pneumococcal meningitis were evaluated for the clinical manifestations and prognosis. The mean age was 44.9 months and 32% of the cases were 6 months old or younger. The most frequent physical findings were alteration in the level of consciousness (66%), fever (52%) and neck stiffness (in 50% of all the cases, and in 73.9% of the cases older than 2 years). Convulsions occured in 54% of the cases at home and/or at the hospital. Various neurologic sequelae were detected in 9 cases at discharge. Persistent hearing loss was detected in 28% of 25 cases who were evaluated. Six cases (12%) died. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) protein level > 200 mg/dL was a significant risk factor for mortality (p= 0.025). Besides, blood glucose level was significantly lower (p= 0.010) and CSF protein level was higher (p= 0.013) in the cases who died comparedto the cases who lived