Oral glycerol therapy prevents severe neurological sequelae in patients with childhood meningitis. Safety, availability, low cost, and oral administration also add to its usefulness, especially in resource-limited settings.

SummaryBackgroundDexamethasone improves outcome for some patients with bacterial meningitis, but not others. We aimed to identify which patients are most likely to benefit from dexamethasone treatment.MethodsWe did a meta-analysis of individual patient data from the randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials of dexamethasone for bacterial meningitis in patients of all ages for which raw data were available. The pre-determined outcome measures were death at the time of first follow-up, death or severe neurological sequelae at 1 month follow-up, death or any neurological sequelae at first follow-up, and death or severe bilateral hearing loss at first follow-up. Combined odds ratios (ORs) and tests for heterogeneity were calculated using conventional Mantel-Haenszel statistics. We also did exploratory analysis of hearing loss among survivors and other exploratory subgroup analyses by use of logistic regression.FindingsData from 2029 patients from five trials were included in the analysis (833 [41·0%] aged <15 years). HIV infection was confirmed or likely in 580 (28·6%) patients and bacterial meningitis was confirmed in 1639 (80·8%). Dexamethasone was not associated with a significant reduction in death (270 of 1019 [26·5%] on dexamethasone vs 275 of 1010 [27·2%] on placebo; OR 0·97, 95% CI 0·79–1·19), death or severe neurological sequelae or bilateral severe deafness (42·3% vs 44·3%; 0·92, 0·76–1·11), death or any neurological sequelae or any hearing loss (54·2% vs 57·4%; 0·89, 0·74–1·07), or death or severe bilateral hearing loss (36·4% vs 38·9%; 0·89, 0·73–1·69). However, dexamethasone seemed to reduce hearing loss among survivors (24·1% vs 29·5%; 0·77, 0·60–0·99, p=0·04). Dexamethasone had no effect in any of the prespecified subgroups, including specific causative organisms, pre-dexamethasone antibiotic treatment, HIV status, or age. Pooling of the mortality data with those of all other published trials did not significantly change the results.InterpretationAdjunctive dexamethasone in the treatment of acute bacterial meningitis does not seem to significantly reduce death or neurological disability. There were no significant treatment effects in any of the prespecified subgroups. The benefit of adjunctive dexamethasone for all or any subgroup of patients with bacterial meningitis thus remains unproven.FundingWellcome Trust UK.

We report a morality rate of 33% among 403 children with bacterial meningitis in Angola. A fatal outcome was associated with impaired consciousness, severe dyspnea, and seizures, and severe neurological sequelae (found in 25% of our patients) was associated with delayed presentation to the hospital, impaired consciousness, and seizures. Being underweight was of secondary importance. Treatment with ceftriaxone, rather than with penicillin plus chloramphenicol, did not improve outcome.

The Päivikki and Sakari Sohlberg, the Sigrid Jusélius, and the Paediatric Research Foundations, and the daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat.

A post hoc analysis of 654 children with bacterial meningitis showed that the level of consciousness is the most important predictor of death and/or neurological sequelae, more than is etiology per se. This finding emphasizes the need of including a measurement of the presenting status in all studies examining treatment efficacy.