DOI: https://doi.org/10.36347/sjams.2024.v12i10.014

Pages: 1350-1354

Meningitis is an inflammatory process, generally of infectious origin, affecting the meninges. Bacterial meningitis is due to the invasion of the cerebrospinal fluid by a bacteria which develops there. The objective was to determine the extent of bacterial meningitis in children aged 0 to 15 years. This was a cross-sectional descriptive study of an epidemio-clinical nature over a period of 12 months from January to December 2008 in the paediatrics department of the Gabriel Touré University Hospital Centre in Bamako, Mali. The most affected age group was 0 to 11 months with 43.3% and a male predominance at 51.9%. The peak was observed during the month of March with 25.7%. The Bambara were in the majority with 39.6%, commune I was the most represented (25.7%). Meningitis was the main diagnosis at entry (93.6%); the most encountered germs were: Neisseria meningitidis (44.4%), Streptococcus pneumoniae (32.1%) and Haemophilus influenzae type b (14.4%). Neisseria meningitidis was sensitive to Ciprofloxacin, Ceftriaxone and Cefotaxime; Streptococcus pneumoniae, sensitive to Ampicillin and Ceftriaxone; Haemophilus influenzae type b reacted to Ciprofloxacin. The evolution was favourable without sequelae in 64.7% and death occurred in 22.5% of cases. Streptococcus pneumoniae was the most lethal germ with 57.1%. The role of the laboratory is essential in helping the doctor make the diagnosis of meningitis, specifying its bacterial, viral, mycotic and parasitic aetiology for effective treatment.