title: [Bacterial meningitis in pediatrics. Study of 166 cases].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of meningitis in our environment.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective study of 166 cases of meningitis diagnosed in our hospital during a 10 year period (1986-1995) was performed. The patients were between 1 month and 14 years of age.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty-six percent of the patients were male and 34% female. Eleven cases were younger than 2 months (6.6%), 122 cases (73.5%) were between 3 months and 5 years of age and 33 cases (19.9%) were older than 5 years. The most frequent symptoms and signs were fever (96%), vomiting (60%), impairment of consciousness (24%) and meningeal signs (49%). CSF cultures were positive in 52% and blood cultures in 32%. The pathogen isolated was N. meningitidis in 53 cases (32%), H. influenzae in 38 (23%), S. pneumoniae in 9 patients (5%) and others in 3 children (2%). Meningitis due to H. influenzae increased each year. No microorganism was isolated in blood and CSF in 63 cases (38%). Meningitis in children between 3 months and 5 years of age was due to N. meningitidis in 40 children (33%) and H. influenzae in 36 (29%). The mortality rate was 3%. The most frequent complications were sepsis (36%) and seizures (16%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The most frequently isolated agent in our study was N. meningitis. Meningitis due to H. influenzae is increasing such that H. influenzae and N. meningitis currently show similar frequency in children between 3 months and 5 years of age.
authors.affiliation: Hospital Infantil La Paz, Servicio de Infecciosos, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fernández-Jaén
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Borque Andrés
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: del Castillo Martín
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Peña García
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Vidal López
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D016920:Meningitis, Bacterial / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies
vernacular_title: Meningitis bacteriana en la edad pediátrica. Estudio de 166 casos.