Pediatric Bacterial and Aseptic Meningitis in Daegu.

Kim,  Saeyoon; Lee,  Eung Bin; Park,  Sun Young; Kim,  Sanghoon; Yang,  Youngho; Kang,  Hwajeong; Kwon,  Soonhak

doi:2014.22.1.12

Ann Child Neurol > Volume 22(1); 2014 > Article

Original Article

Journal of the Korean Child Neurology Society 2014;22(1):12-16.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.26815/jkcns.2014.22.1.12 Published online March 30, 2014.

Pediatric Bacterial and Aseptic Meningitis in Daegu.

Saeyoon Kim, Eung Bin Lee, Sun Young Park, Sanghoon Kim, Youngho Yang, Hwajeong Kang, Soonhak Kwon

¹Department of Pediatrics, Yeungnam University College of Medicine, Korea.
²Yeungnam University School of Medicine, Korea.
³Department of Pediatrics, Kyungpook National University School of Medicine, Korea. shkwon@knu.ac.kr

Abstract

PURPOSE
The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical characteristics and causative organisms of meningitis in the Daegu region and seek a useful tool for the early prediction of bacterial meningitis in children. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 115 pediatric patients diagnosed with bacterial or aseptic meningitis at Yeungnam university hospital in Daegu from March 2012 to July 2013. We evaluated their clinical symptoms, laboratory findings, clinical courses, bacterial meningitis scores and complications. RESULTS: The subjects included 106 with aseptic meningitis and 9 with bacterial meningitis. At the time of visit, fever was the most frequent symptom, followed by headache, vomiting and neck stiffness. In cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis, white blood cell (WBC) count were higher in the bacterial meningitis group (1423.8+/-1980.4 vs. 120.0+/-161.6 mg/dL). Mean CSF protein was 219.4+/-183.6 mg/dL in bacterial meningitis and 42.4+/-27.0 mg/dL in aseptic meningitis (P <0.001). Bacterial meningitis score (BMS) were higher in the group with bacterial meningitis. Abnormal radiological findings were found in 44% of the group with bacterial meningitis. CONCLUSION: Although the clinical features between the groups were similar, the CSF analysis revealed significant differences statistically. Furthermore, BMS could be helpful to predict bacterial meningitis in children. During the outbreak of aseptic meningitis, it might reduce unnecessary hospital admissions and antibiotic treatments.

Key Words: Meningitis bacterial, Meningitis aseptic, children