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Current Concepts in Acute Purulent Meningitis

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Summary

Central nervous system (CNS) infection continues to be a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in children. Nonfatal CNS infections produce neurological and audiological sequelae in 5 to 30% of cases. Current case fatality rates in bacterial meningitis are between 3 and 7% in infants and children, increasing to approximately 30% in newborns.

Important advances include improved understanding of the pathophysiology of bacterial meningitis and of therapeutic interventions, such as steroids, that may modulate the inflammatory response and improve clinical outcome. Another advance has been the introduction of third generation cephalosporins such as cefotaxime, ceftriaxone and ceftazidime. The agents penetrate well into the CNS and are active against Gram-negative bacilli (including Escherichia coli, Klebsiella spp., Salmonella spp.) and other organisms such as Pseudomonas spp. Other advances include techniques for the rapid diagnosis of bacterial meningitis, and the prophylactic measures such as immunisation against Haemophilus influenzae, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Neisseria meningitidis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, National Institute of Perinatology, Montes Urales 800 5o Piso, Lomas Virreyes 11000, Mexico City, Mexico

    José-Luis Arredondo-García, Federico Javier Ortiz-Ibarra, Ricardo Figueroa-Damian & Roxana Valdes-Ramos

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  1. José-Luis Arredondo-García
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  2. Federico Javier Ortiz-Ibarra
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  3. Ricardo Figueroa-Damian
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  4. Roxana Valdes-Ramos
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Arredondo-García, JL., Ortiz-Ibarra, F.J., Figueroa-Damian, R. et al. Current Concepts in Acute Purulent Meningitis. Drug Invest 4 (Suppl 2), 18–25 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03258353

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