Evolution of the Etiologies of Purulent Meningitis in Children over a Period of 24 Months in Conflict-Affected Rural Areas of the Central African Republic after the Introduction of 2 New Vaccines in the Expanded Vaccination Program

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Background and Objective: Purulent meningitis is a therapeutic emergency and remains a real public health problem in the world, particularly in limited resources countries. The study aimed to describe the epidemiological clinical, etiological and scalable features of purulent meningitis in children in Bria. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2019 (24 months). It included all suspected cases of purulent meningitis in children aged 0 to 15 years, confirmed by agglutination with Pastorex meningitis. A standard sheet was used to collect the data which was entered and analyzed on Epi Info 7 software. Results: A total of 37 cases of purulent meningitis were confirmed among 90 suspected cases. The female gender predominated (59.5%), with a sex ratio of 0.7. The age group from 0 to 11 months was majority (48.6%). Nearly 2 thirds of children were not vaccinated (64.8%). The most frequent functional signs were fever (83.8%), and convulsion (51.4%). The etiologies were Streptococcus (51.4%), Neisseria meningitidis (35.1%) and Haemophilus influenzae (13.5%). Therapeutic success under 3rd generation cephalosporin treatment was obtained in 86.5% including 8.1% with sequelae; 13.5% of death was observed. Streptococcus was the most lethal bacterium at 21.1%. Conclusion: The results of these studies show that pediatric purulent meningitis is still common despite the availability of free vaccination. They require early therapeutic management to limit the occurrence of sequelae and death. Hence, it is important to strengthen prevention strategies.

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