Prevalence and significance of anaemia in childhood bacterial meningitis: A secondary analysis of prospectively collected data from clinical trials in Finland, Latin America and Angola

Abstract

Objectives To describe the prevalence and severity of anaemia and to examine its associations with outcome in children with bacterial meningitis (BM). Design Secondary analysis of descriptive data from five randomised BM treatment trials. Setting Hospitals in Finland, Latin America and Angola. Participants Consecutive children from 2 months to 15 years of age admitted with BM and who had haemoglobin (Hb) measured on admission. Outcome measures Prevalence and degree of anaemia using the WHO criteria, and their associations with recovery with sequelae or death. Results The median Hb was 11.8 g/dL in Finland (N=341), 9.2 g/dL in Latin America (N=597) and 7.6 g/dL in Angola (N=1085). Of the children, 79% had anaemia, which was severe in 29%, moderate in 58% and mild in 13% of cases. Besides study area, having anaemia was independently associated with age <1 year, treatment delay >3 days, weight-for-age z-score