Etiology and clinical course of meningitis in children

The aim of the paper was to pinpoint the etiological factors which caused meningitis, and to describe the course of the illness in the patients hospitalized in the years 1991-2000 at the observation ward of the Paediatrics Propaedeutics Clinic of the Paediatrics Institute. Etiological factors were determined in 42 of 80 cases included in the study: in 32 out of 62 purulent meningitis cases and 10 out of 18 aseptic meningitis cases. In purulent meningitis the most commonly isolated pathogens were N. meningitidis (16%), S. pneumoniae (8.1%), K. pneumoniae (4.9%) and H. influenzae type B (4.9%), where as in aseptic meningitis--mumps and herpes viruses. Despite appropriate treatment in 47% of cases there were observed complications such as hydrocephalus, brain oedema, ependymitis as well as hearing or vision impairment and failure to thrive.