Prevalence of Bacterial Meningitis among Infants in a Tertiary Hospital in Benin City, Nigeria

Bacterial meningitis remains a major cause of mortality and long–term neurological sequelae worldwide. Pathogens responsible for the infection vary with time, geographical location and patient age, thus necessitating periodic review. Against this background, this study was conducted. Cerebrospinal fluid was collected from 396 infants with signs and symptoms of meningitis. The age of the infants range from the newborn to one year and consisted of 211 males and 185 females. Specimens were processed to diagnosis bacterial meningitis, aetiologic agents identified and susceptibility test performed using standard techniques. An overall prevalence of 1.77% of bacterial meningitis was observed. The prevalence of bacterial meningitis was higher in males (2.84%) than in females (0.54%). However, male gender was not a significant risk factor for acquiring bacterial meningitis (OR = 5.385 95%. CI = 0.642; 45.175 P = 0.176). Aetiologic agents include Streptococcus pneumoniae, Neisseria meningitidis, Haemophilus influenzae and Klebsiella pneumoniae with the latter being the most prevalent (42.85%). Imipenem, ofloxacin and ciprofloxacin were the antibacterial agents that were active against all bacteria isolates. The data presented would be useful for empiric management of bacterial meningitisKeywords: Bacterial meningitis, infants, neurological sequela