Etiology and occurrence of acute bacterial meningitis in children in Benghazi, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

Abstract

Over a 14-month period, 77 children with a presumptive diagnosis of acute bacterial meningitis were investigated. The incidence of acute bacterial meningitis was 0.8%, with a case fatality rate of 13.0%. Children < 1 year of age were more affected (64.9%). The total male to female ratio was 1.2:1. Gram stain detected more cases (85.7%) than culture (66.2%). A total of 48 isolates were identified by culture and their antibiotic sensitivity was determined. Haemophilus influenzae (33.8%) was the predominant organism identified, followed by Streptococcuspneumoniae (26.0%), Klebsiella spp. (6.5%) and Neisseria meningitidis (2.6%). Many of the bacterial isolates were sensitive to gentamicin, cefotaxime and ceftriaxone and least sensitive to tetracycline and ampicillin.