Background: TB Meningitis is one of the most serious forms of Tuberculosis. Objective of the current study was to assess the clinical outcome of children presented with TB Meningitis in a tertiary care centre in southern India by following them up and assess their present state in terms of neurological deficits, hearing and visual deficits, learning difficulties and day to day performances.Methods: Children between 0 - 15 years diagnosed to have TB meningitis in a 2700 bedded hospital in Tamilnadu, India, during the time period 1999-2003 were identified through medical records. These children were called back after 2 to 7 years and health status in terms of neurological deficits, learning deficits, persisting seizures and day to day performance, hearing, ophthalmologic assessment and Intelligence quotient assessment were assessed.Results: Nearly one third of the children with TB meningitis showed complete recovery. One third died and another one third had some disability. Major problem (46%) encountered in TB meningitis survivors was behavioural problems; the commonest being hyperactivity. Ten out of 27 children had poor scholastic performances, six had neurological deficits and four had seizure disorders. Of 17 children assessed, two had hearing impairment and five had visual impairment. All children with hydrocephalus and were shunted within five days had fully recovered. Of the children shunted later, 9 children (60%) had some sequelae.Conclusions: Childhood TB meningitis has very poor outcomes. Poor prognosis and difficult early diagnosis emphasise the importance of preventive therapy for child contacts of patients with tuberculosis.

Introduction:Neonatal sepsis is a leading cause of neonatal mortality and morbidity in the world. The objective of the current study was to detect the common causative microorganisms of neonatal sepsis and their antimicrobial resistance patterns in a rural secondary hospital in Tamil Nadu, India.Materials and Methods:Neonates (0–28 days) admitted to this newborn care unit from October 2013 to September 2015, with a diagnosis of probable sepsis were studied. All the enrolled babies had blood cultures taken and were followed up till final outcome, which was discharge or death, irrespective of culture result. Univariate analysis was performed for factors associated with culture positivity, generating odds ratios, and confidence intervals.Results:Among the 107 babies with a diagnosis of probable sepsis, 28 (26.2%) had shown bacteria in culture. The majority (94.4%) were of early-onset sepsis. The predominant organisms were Staphylococcus aureus (10/28) and Klebsiella (6/28). 100% of Gram-negative bacilli and 90% of Staphylococcus were resistant to Ampicillin. Gentamicin resistance among Gram-negative bacilli and Staphylococcus was 52.9% and 20%, respectively, while third-generation cephalosporin resistance was 31.2% and 20%, respectively. Among the neonates diagnosed as probable sepsis, idiopathic prematurity (P = 0.007) was found to have a statistically significant association with culture-positive sepsis.Conclusion:The culture positivity rate among the neonates with probable sepsis in the current study was 26%. An alarmingly high degree of antibiotic resistance observed calls for robust infection control practices and an urgent evaluation and development of individual and national antibiotic policies for neonatal sepsis.