Bacterial meningitis in patients with sickle cell anemia in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil: a report on ten cases.

Hematol Transfus Cell Ther

Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA), Salvador, BA, Brazil; Instituto Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), Salvador, BA, Brazil. Electronic address:

Published: September 2019

Sickle cell anemia (SCA) is a common genetic blood disorder, affecting millions worldwide. According to current evidence, individuals with SCA have more than 300 times greater risk to develop bacterial meningitis (BM) than the general population. Herein we have described the characteristics of a series of BM cases in SCA patients in Salvador, Brazil, during 13 years of hospital-based surveillance. Data on clinical presentation, laboratory parameters and outcomes were collected retrospectively by reviewing medical records. From 1999 to 2011, ten SCA patients were identified among the 2511 cases of BM (10/2511; 0.40%). These patients were more likely to be male (90%) and to be younger (median age 8.5 years). The causative agents were Streptococcus pneumoniae (n=5) and Haemophilus influenzae (n=1). The most frequent pneumococcal serotypes were 23F (2 cases), 14, 18F, 23B (one case each). Common medical complications were stroke (n=3); heart failure (n=2), respiratory problems (n=2), renal dysfunctions (n=2) and leg ulcers (n=1). This study highlights the importance of S. pneumoniae as a causative agent of meningitis in individuals with SCA and shows the diversity of comorbidities associated with this condition.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7248505PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.htct.2019.06.006DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

bacterial meningitis
8
sickle cell
8
cell anemia
8
individuals sca
8
sca patients
8
sca
5
patients
4
meningitis patients
4
patients sickle
4
anemia salvador
4

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!