[Purulent meningitis in children: special considerations for developing countries].
Bacterial meningitis is frequent in tropical zones as a result of recurring epidemics, meningococcal meningitis and near-total absence of anti-haemophilus type b vaccination. Recently the situation has been further complicated by the unexplained appearance of meningococcal W135 epidemics in Burkina-Faso. With regard to pneumococcal meningitis, the appearance of antibiotic strains is a worldwide phenomenon that has greatly increased the cost of antimicrobial treatment. Hopefully in the future children in tropical areas will be able to benefit from immunization using a conjugate vaccine combining anti-haemophilus b, meningococcal type a and W135 vaccination. In this regard the currently available 7 valence pneumococcal vaccine is poorly suited to tropical epidemiology and that an additional 4 serotypes would be needed to achieve 85% coverage.
Reinert
P
P
Service de pédiatrie, Centre Hospitalier Intercommunal de Créteil, 40 avenue de Verdun, 94010 Créteil. philippe.reinert@chicreteil.fr
D002648:Child; D003906:Developing Countries; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D016527:Drug Costs; D006801:Humans; D008583:Meningitis, Haemophilus / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D008586:Meningitis, Pneumococcal / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology*; D022242:Pneumococcal Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage; D012703:Serotyping; D014329:Tropical Climate; D014611:Vaccination
D022242:Pneumococcal Vaccines