Meningitis in neonates having late onset sepsis.

Abstract

Objectives: Majority of the researchers reporting incidence and etiology surrounding neonatal sepsis along with meningitis are from developed countries while limited work is noticed from developing countries where overall burden of these disease are immense. The current study was aimed to determine the frequency of meningitis in children having late-onset sepsis (LOS). Study Design: Descriptive Case Series study. Setting: Department of Pediatrics Medicine, Nishter Medical University Multan and DHQ Teaching Hospital, Dera Ghazi Khan. Period: From July to December 2019. Material & Methods: A total of 206 neonates of both gender, older than 72 hours, admitted and diagnosed with sepsis were enrolled. Meningitis was labeled in a neonate if his/her cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) contains > 30 leukocytes/mm³, and any one of these two: protein >200mg/dl or sugar <40mg/dl. Results: Out of a total of 206 neonates having LOS, majority, 111 (53.9%) were male and 73 (35.4%) were aged 3 to 7 days. Overall, mean weight was found to be 2.68+0.51 kg. A total of 84 (40.8%) neonates were preterm. Frequency of meningitis was found in 44 (21.4%) neonates. Neonates having low body weight and being preterm were noted to have significant associations (p value < 0.05) with meningitis. Conclusion: Frequency of meningitis in neonates with LOS was high. Low body weight and preterm neonates having LOS were found to have significant association with the presence of meningitis.