Bacteriological aspects of purulent meningitis in the Yopougon university hospital, 1995-1998

Objective - The authors had for aim to determine the frequency and the dist ribution of germs responsible for purulent meningitis in the Yopougon Unive rsity Hospital (Abidjan). Material and methods - Three hundred and sixty two purulent CSF collected o ver four years, were analyzed by bacteriological methods commonly used to d etect meningitis. In 85.4% of the cases, the CSF was collected in children between 0 and 15 years of age among whom 40% from one month to two years of age. 28.2% of the CSF samples were lymphocytic and 71.8% were compatible w ith a purulent meningitis. Results - Two hundred and eighteen strains were Isolated; including S. pneu moniae (46%), H. influenzae b (29.2%), N. meningitidis (14.1%), Streptococc us group B (6.8%), and a low percentage of enterobacteria (3.2%). Their dis tribution according to age range correlated to literature data, S. pneumoni ae being found in all age ranges even though it was more frequently found b etween one month and five years, the monthly distribution did not show any specificity except for H. influenzae b. The strains presented variable leve ls of susceptibility to common antibiotic drugs such as penicillin, ampicil lin, amoxicillin, chloramphenicol, erythromycin, tetracycline. Conclusion - Surveillance for the main bacteria responsible for community m eningitis, especially S. pneumoniae, is imperative to identify the various serotypes circulating and assess their susceptibility to efficient and avai lable antibiotic drugs. (C) 2001 Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevi er SAS.