[Etiological profile of bacterial meningitis in a small hospital]
OBJECTIVE: To determine the etiologic profile of cases of meningitis treated at a small hospital in Ribeirão Preto, State of São Paulo, and to compare it to those reported for other communities.METHODS: a retrospective study was conducted on 103 patients admitted from January 1992 to July 1996 with clinical and laboratory diagnosis of bacterial meningitis. The clinical criteria for diagnosis were based on patient history and physical signs and symptoms, and the laboratory criteria were based on cerebrospinal fluid examination (aspect, cytology, biochemistry, Gram staining, culture and countercurrent immunoelectrophoresis) and blood culture.RESULTS: The etiologic agent was identified in 81.5% of cases: Haemophilus influenzae type b in 32%, Neisseria meningitides in 25.2%, Streptococcus pneumoniae in 8.7%, Staphylococcus aureus and epidermidis in 8.7%, and others agents in 6.9%. CONCLUSIONS: The study showed that the cases of bacterial meningitis treated at the Santa Lydia Hospital of Ribeirão Preto are caused by the same agents detected in other places, with Haemophilus influenzae type b being the predominant one. The study also suggests that when many people are involved in the collection of material for laboratory tests, recovery of the agent may become difficult.
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Hospital Santa Lydia, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.
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