ABSTRACT
Objective: To estimate the outcome of acute meningoencephalitis (AME) in children and evaluate the impact of prognostic factors. Design and setting: A prospective cross sectional study was conducted in the paediatric ward of Khulna Medical College Hospital from 2007- 2009. Method: All admitted children, aged 1 month to 12 years, satisfying the case definition were enrolled into the study. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was collected for cytology and biochemistry to categorize AME into pyogenic, viral or normal varieties. CSF was tested for common bacterial antigen and, along with serum was also tested for Japanese encephalitis virus antibodies. Patients were monitored twice daily until the final outcome. Results: One hundred and forty children were inducted constituting 2.5% of admissions. Infants (30%) were the worst sufferers. Twenty one (15%) children with AME died which is 4 times higher than the overall mortality (3.8%) in paediatric ward (p<0.001). Among the 11 bacteria positive cases one died from S Pneumoniae. Low GCS score was associated with higher mortality (p<0.05). Eighteen (13%) cases developed neurological sequelae. Paralysis (27%) was the most frequent followed by hydrocephalus (23%) and involuntary movements (14%). Number of sequelae was significantly higher in pyogenic (44%) meningoencephalitis in comparison to non-pyogenic (14%) variants (OR=3.30, 95% CI: 1.08-10.01, p<0.05). Conclusions: Mortality from AME was 15%. Low GCS score was associated with higher fatality.