Pneumococcal meningitis: clinical outcomes in a pre-vaccine era at a Dublin paediatric hospital, 1999-2007.

AIM: To document the long-term outcomes of pneumococcal meningitis in children presenting to a Dublin paediatric hospital in the pre-pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) era (1998-2007).

METHODS

Subjects with pneumococcal meningitis were identified at The Children's University Hospital, Dublin through the hospital surveillance system and laboratory archives.

RESULTS

44 children were identified with S. pneumoniae meningitis. Mean age of presentation was 23.45 months (2 days to 13 years) and 28 (65%) cases were less than 12 months old. Eight (18.6%) children died. 55% of cases were left with significant deficits. Of the survivors, 7 (20%) had moderate to severe neurological sequelae.

CONCLUSION

Pneumococcal meningitis is a devastating childhood disease with significant mortality and morbidity, especially in those less than 2 years of age. These data provide a baseline against which the impact of PCV7 on pneumococcal meningitis can be measured.