The Manifestation and Treatment of Bacterial Meningitis in a Population

¶ … Bacterial Meningitis)

Namani, S. A., Koci, R. A., Qehaja-BuAaj, E., Ajazaj-Berisha, L., & Mehmeti, M. (2014). The epidemiology of bacterial meningitis in Kosovo. The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries, 8(07), 823-830.

The article aims to present bacterial meningitis epidemiologic features presented in Kosovo, a developing country. The epidemiological data in question was analyzed with patient observation and chart review at the University Clinical Center of Kosovo for two years. The methodology also applied active surveillance for ten years for those patients treated with the disease at the Infectious Diseases Clinic in Prishtina. Data analysis was by use of age distribution and the definition given to bacterial meningitis as per WHO's criteria. The samples were forwarded to a laboratory for reference regarding processing, isolation and identification of pathogens. InStat 3 is the software used for statistical analysis. Qualitative variables were compared using Chi-square test and Fisher's.

The first study period's findings were that the cases between 2006 and 2010 decreased and the incidence was 3.0 cases per 100, 000 populations. Fatality rate cases decreased from 10% to 5%. Children also registered lower mortality rates and lower incidences of neurological complications compared to the adults. The pediatric population had bacterial meningitis prevalence and increased in the median age, from three years in 2000 and in 2010 seven years. The last decade registered a steady number of bacterial meningitis. The article provides evidence using case study, and this will be useful when comparing the information with other countries facing the same problem.

Fayyaz, J., Rehman, A., Hamid, A., Khursheed, M., Zia, N. & Feroze, A. (2014). Age-Related Clinical Manifestation of Acute Bacterial Meningitis in Children Presenting Emergency Department of a Tertiary Care Hospital. J Pak Med Assoc., 64(3), 296-9.

The aim of the study is to determine acute bacterial meningitis (ABM) signs and symptoms in the different age groups of a pediatrics population. The patients admitted to Agha Khan University from September 2009 to September 2011 were the retrospective study since they had the relevant diagnosis. Data was collected using case records found in patient files and the variables used were gender, age, clinical signs, and symptoms, presenting complaints, computed tomography scan findings, and final patients' outcomes. Data analysis used SPSS 19. The sample size was 192 patients out of which 165 presented complaints of fever, 93 vomiting and of this 49 were older than five years. Children with irritability were 54 and of these 27 were below one year. Forty-seven cases presented fits and from this 21 were below one year. Over fifty patients presented signs of stiff necks and meningeal irritation, 26 Kerning's sign and 18 Brudzincski's sign and these were common among children above five years. Children with a headache and above five years were 77, and 151 patients needed admission into the wards and yet 40 were in the High Dependency Unit. Six patients showed advanced outcomes of the disease.

The article provides statistics for the problem, and this gives readers a clear picture of the trend the disease is taking regarding spreading. Thereby, will be used by healthcare practitioners in the emergency department to control the situation and be effective in giving primary care to patients who are brought into the emergency room.

Ivana Luksi?, I., Muli?, R., Falconer, R., Orban, M., Sidhu, S. & Rudan, I. (2013). Estimating Global And Regional Morbidity From Acute Bacterial Meningitis In Children: Assessment Of The Evidence. Croat Med J, 54, 510-8.

The article aims to give an estimate of global morbidity in children from acute bacterial meningitis. The authors used databases such as PubMed and Scopus to identify studies for both community-based and hospital registry-based useful in estimating global morbidity in children from bacterial meningitis. The authors looked at quality and availability of the information and cases of recorded case-fatality rates. Impacts of the study year, study design, study setting, study duration and sample size contributed to the assessment. Additionally, the authors cut across categories through six WHO regions and analyzed their estimates of plausibility. The findings showed that 71 studies met the inclusion criterion, and the negative correlations were between sample size and incidence while positive correlations were between case fatality and incidence rate. African region registered the highest, then Western Pacific region, South East Asia, Europe, and the American region.

The article previews the prevalence of the disease, and this will help readers understand what bacterial meningitis entails. By understanding, the readers will be aware of the disease and act accordingly to stop its prevalence from having control of the remaining population. Hence, will be able to show how fast the disease is spreading among children and this information will help healthcare providers mitigate the spread of the disease to the remaining healthy population. Since Africa registers the highest number, the healthcare providers will look for ways and means of controlling the spread in developing countries.

Mcintyre, P. B., O'Brien, K. L. Greenwood, B. & Van De Beek, D. (2012). Effect of Vaccines on Bacterial Meningitis Worldwide. The Lancet, 380(9854), 1703-11.