Epidemiological-clinical, Therapeutic and Evolutionary Profile of Children Treated for Bacterial Meningitis at CHU-MEL (Benin)

Aims: Bacterial meningitis remains a public health problem due to an unfavorable geographical environment and socioeconomic context. Our study aimed to evaluate the epidemiological-clinical, therapeutic and evolutionary profile of children treated for bacterial meningitis in the pediatric department of CHU-MEL in Benin.

Methodology: The methodology consisted in carrying out a retrospective and descriptive study of children admitted to the pediatric department of the CHU-MEL in Cotonou from January 2019 to December 2020. All children admitted in the study period were taken in consideration. Data collection (epidemiological, clinical, paraclinical, therapeutic and evolutionary) was made from registers and files and by telephone call.

Results: Our data reveal that 68 children were treated for bacterial meningitis between January 2019 to December 2020. It was also noted that the most represented age group was between 3 months and 3 years with a rate of 52.9%. Most (95.6%) of the children had no particular history. The antibiotics used were ampicillin (17.4%), ceftriaxone (52.2%), cefotaxime (4.3%) and ciprofloxacin (8.7%). For the exploration of cases of meningitis, apart from the cytobacteriological examination of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), the blood culture, the complete blood count (NFS) and the C-reactive protein (CRP) were the examinations commonly requested.

Conclusion: It is observed that children treated as meningitis have varying clinical signs. Meningitis cases have different ends. In case of bacterial meningitis, it is important to determine the germs to ensure proper antibiotic therapy to be conducted.