The clinical diagnoses of cerebral malaria, acute bacterial meningitis and viral encephalitis are unreliable. Further studies to evaluate the underlying causes of coma in febrile Sudanese children are warranted.

The medical records of 122 patients with meningitis admitted during one year were reviewed. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) culture confirmed bacterial meningitis in 59; of the remaining 63, 35 were partially treated bacterial, 25 were viral, and three were tuberculous meningitis. Eighty-two patients (65%) were Saudi and most were younger than 5 years. Hemophilus influenzae was the most common pathogen isolated in patients younger than one year, and Neisseria meningiditis was the most common organism identified overall, especially in cases occurring during the Haj. CSF culture and the latex agglutation test were the most reliable in confirming diagnosis.

A total of 780 children with scorpion stings were admitted to a referral hospital in Saudi Arabia over a 7-year period. A similar number was managed in the outpatient department. The mortality was 4.8% initially, but no death occurred in the last 2 years of the study period. The reduction in mortality is attributed to the use of antivenom and improvement in case management.

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