Pneumonia in childhood bacterial meningitis-Experience from three continents.

Introduction: Although concomitant pneumonia is sometimes diagnosed in childhood bacterial meningitis, its role in the illness course and prognosis is not known. We examined these associations using prospectively collected data from Finland, Latin America and Angola.

Methods: This was a secondary descriptive analysis of prospectively collected data (clinical and laboratory findings at admission, during hospitalisation and outcome) from five clinical bacterial meningitis trials. We included children aged 2 months to 15 years from sites with confirmed bacterial meningitis and potential concomitant pneumonia (diagnosed clinically with or without a chest radiograph).

Results: Pneumonia was not observed in the 341 children included in Finland. Pneumonia was observed in 8% (51/606) of children in Latin America and in 46% (377/819) in Angola (p < 0.0001). In multivariate analyses, predisposing factors for pneumonia in Latin America were age <1 year, seizures and severe anaemia; the corresponding factors for Angola were preadmission duration of illness >3 days and non-meningococcal meningitis. Concomitant pneumonia increased the severity of the disease and disabling sequelae.

Conclusion: Bacterial meningitis with pneumonia is a major, previously undescribed entity of severe bacterial meningitis, especially in Angola.