title: [Neonatal bacterial meningitis: etiological agents in 109 cases during a 10 year period].
abstract: The etiology of purulent meningitis was investigated in 109 newborn infants admitted in a neonatal intensive care unit throughout a ten year period. Bacterial pathogens were isolated from the CSF in 57 (52.2%) neonates. There was a predominance of Gram-negative bacilli isolated in 38 (34.9%) neonates. Gram-positive cocci were isolated from CSF in only 12 (11.0%) neonates. Microorganisms associated with nosocomial septicemia and meningitis in neonates--Klebsiella sp, Salmonella sp. Enterobacter sp, Pseudomonas sp, Flavobacterium meningosepticum and Serratia marcescens--were responsible for presumptive etiology in 38 (49.3%) among 77 patients with positive cultures in "closed sites". They were isolated from 22 (57.0%) neonates with prior hospitalization but only from 12 (34.3%) neonates coming directly from their households (chi 2 = 4.08; p < 0.05). The mortality rate was significantly higher in patients with positive CSF cultures (47.4%) in comparison to patients with negative cultures (18.4%) (X2 = 5.01; p < 0.05). It is possible to conclude that Gram-negative bacilli, many of them of hospital origin, are the major pathogens in this study. An improvement on neonatal health care and a scrupulous control of neonatal nosocomial infections are recommended.
authors.affiliation: Instituto da Criança, Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo (FMUSP), Brasil.
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Ramos
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Feferbaum
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Manissadjian
authors.forename: F A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Vaz
mesh_terms: D003470:Culture Media; D005260:Female; D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006094:Gram-Positive Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D008297:Male; D016920:Meningitis, Bacterial / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000401:mortality; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media
vernacular_title: Meningite bacteriana neonatal. Agentes etiológicos em 109 casos durante período de dez anos.