[Neonatal bacterial meningitis in a tertiary treatment center].
OBJECTIVE
To determine incidence, etiologic agents and clinical manifestations of bacterial meningitis in patients hospitalized in the newborn ward at the Hospital Infantil de Mexico in Mexico City and establish the incidence of meningitis in newborns admitted with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) and determine how often blood cultures are negative in bacterial meningitis in this population.


METHODS
Retrospective chart review of patients with bacterial meningitis admitted to our hospital.


METHODS
January 1990-July 1995.


RESULTS
There were 959 admissions to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The overall incidence of bacterial meningitis was 32.3/1000 admissions; however, among 170 patients with RDS, [corrected] meningitis was detected in one (5.9/1000 RDS patients). Of the 31 patients with bacterial meningitis, 10 were preterm (PT) and 21 term (T). In the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) isolates, there was a predominance of gram negative rods (n: 19; 61%). Clinical findings associated to meningitis were non-specific and there were no differences between PT and T infants. From 31 patients, 19 had negative blood cultures at the time of diagnosis (61%). Mortality associated to bacterial meningitis was [corrected] 40% and 23%, for PT and T, respectively (p = NS).


CONCLUSIONS
The incidence of bacterial meningitis in the study population was high. Most isolates in CSF were gram-negative rods. Clinical findings in meningitis were non-specific and there were no differences between PT and T. Most of the patients (61%) had negative blood cultures at the time of diagnosis.
Ríos-Reátegui
E
E
Departamento de Neonatología, Hospital Infantil de México Federico Gómez, México, D.F., México.
Ruiz-González
L
L
Murguía-de-Sierra
T
T
D016470:Bacteremia / Q000453:epidemiology; D001724:Birth Weight; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D016905:Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D016908:Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D016920:Meningitis, Bacterial / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D008800:Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors
Meningitis bacteriana neonatal en una institución de tercer nivel de atención.