Prevalence of newborn bacterial meningitis and sepsis during the pregnancy period for public health care system participants in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

Abstract

Bacterial meningitis is still a major public health threat inside developing countries. In Brazil, the Department of Public Health estimates that the prevalence of bacterial meningitis is 22 cases per 100,000 persons. During the neonatal period, the bacterial meningitis develops special characteristics that can result in hearing problems and movement loss due to neurological and psychological damages. This study had the aim to analyze the prevalence of bacterial meningitis and sepsis in newborns during the pregnancy period for those using the public health care system in Salvador-Bahia. One of the goal was to describe the risk factors of bacterial meningitis and sepsis in newborns. A second goal was to identify, based on newborn health records, the difficulties to predict issues with the hearing, neurological and psychological problems. This study has a cross-sectional design. The newborns that were included in this study had bacterial meningitis or sepsis within 0-28 days of life. They were admitted in the maternity wards between June-December 2005 at the newborn intensive unit care. We analyzed 72 reports of newborns and only 11 (17%) were bacterial meningitis or sepsis newborn cases. These cases were associated to high intake of ototoxic drugs that can cause oto and nephrotoxicity, and cause serious sequels on the child development. Nervous system infection is one of the 2 major problems in clinical practice, especially during the first month after birth. During this first month, the nervous system infection develops special characteristics, which are different from regular symptoms and it requires treatment due to the increased risk to develop complications. It is strongly recommended to monitor ototoxic drugs use to prevent effects on the hearing system. Key-Words: Newborn meningitis, sepsis, prevalence, prediction, complications.The neonatal meningitis is an illness characterized as a result of infection and inflammation of the meninges and it typically happens between birth and the first 28 days of life [1].The bacterial infection is more common during the first month after birth compared to other stages of newborns. It has an incidence that varies from 0.22 to 2.66/1,000 newborns in different countries and it tends to be more common in developing countries [2].During the neonatal period, the illness has special characteristics. The etiology, the clinical symptoms and the mortality appear to be different from the observed in older children [3].The mortality varies based on the treatment, with survival rates of 17% to 29% and with complications rate of 15% to 68%. Among the predictive factors for determining the diagnosis of this condition are the premature birth, newborn weight, type of bacteria, predisposition for the microbial germ, the length of the treatment and complications [4].Although there have been medical advances of medicines and preventive medicine, the incidence of newborn bacterial meningitis for the last 30 years has been barely affected. This minor change in the incidence can be linked po...

Neonatal bacterial meningitis in Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, Ethiopia: a 10-year retrospective review

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“…Neonatal meningitis is an illness characterized as a result of infection of the meninges and it typically happens between birth and the first 28 days of life (Mohammad et al 2010; Luzia et al 2007; Delouvois et al 1991). Neonatal meningitis is an important cause of morbidity in sub-Saharan Africa and requires urgent empiric treatment with parenteral administered antibiotics (Olivia et al 2014).…”

“…The mortality varies based on the treatment, with survival rates of 17–29% and with complications rates of 15–68% (Luzia et al 2007). Two-thirds of meningitis deaths in low income countries occur among children under 15 years of age (Meenakshi et al 2009).…”

Neonatal bacterial meningitis in Turkey: epidemiology, risk factors, and prognosis

“…Neonatal meningitis is the inflammation of the meninges typically occurring within the first 30 days of life [1]. It may be classified as early-onset (EOM) and late-onset meningitis (LOM) according to the time of diagnosis [2][3][4][5].…”

Neonatal meningitis according to the microbiological diagnosis: a decade of experience in a tertiary center

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