Clinical pediatrics
-
Clinical pediatrics · Nov 2001
Bacterial meningitis in childhood at the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh: 1988-1998.
Bacterial meningitis is an important acute infectious disease of childhood that remains a source of substantial morbidity and mortality. The impact of the Haemophilus influenzae type b (HIB) conjugate vaccines on the epidemiology of the other bacterial causes of meningitis in childhood has received little attention. The objective of this study is to report the experience at a tertiary-care children's hospital with the occurrence of bacterial meningitis before and after the licensure of the HIB conjugate vaccine. ⋯ The case fatality rates for children with meningitis caused by H. influenzae, S. pneumoniae, and N. meningitidis were 0.0%, 9.2%, and 7.5%, respectively. Most cases of meningitis due to HIB occurred in children who had not been immunized. Three children who received the polysaccharide vaccine developed meningitis due to HIB; there were no failures of the conjugate vaccine.