Pneumococcal bacteraemia--a study of 75 black children.
Seventy-five black children from 0 to ten years old with pneumococcal bacteraemia, who were hospitalized during a one-year period, were studied retrospectively from case records. Half the children were under one year and 68% under two years of age. Sixty-seven per cent were malnourished, 34% severely so. The overall case-fatality-rate was 26.7% being highest in children presenting in autumn (52.4%) and in those with meningitis (54.5%), severe protein-calorie malnutrition (42.8%) or associated infections (61.5%). Host defences against the pneumococcus are discussed, especially in relation to their deficiencies in malnourished and young children. Special mention is made of early-onset neonatal sepsis due to the pneumococcus and of the association between pneumococcal bacteraemia and acute post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis. This study indicates that pneumococcal bacteraemia is a serious infection in children, especially in those with malnutrition and other infections. In view of the emergence of penicillin-resistant strains, its treatment may become more difficult in the future.
D001741:Black or African American; D000367:Age Factors; D044383:Black People; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007674:Kidney Diseases / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D008586:Meningitis, Pneumococcal / Q000401:mortality; D009748:Nutrition Disorders; D011008:Pneumococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality; D011018:Pneumonia, Pneumococcal / Q000401:mortality; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012621:Seasons; D018805:Sepsis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality; D013019:South Africa