A Clinical Study of Aseptic Meningitis(1996-2002)

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: This study was performed to investigate the epidemiologic features of the patients who were admitted and diagnosed as aseptic meningitis from 1996 to 2002 in Seoul Red Cross Hospital. In this study, we report the time of outbreaks, clinical manifestations, laboratory data and CSF examination results. METHODS: We reviewed the clinical records of 544 aseptic meningitis patients who were admitted to Seoul Red Cross Hospital from 1996 to 2002. We collected the data of the sex, age, clinical manifestations, peripheral blood and CSF examination results of the patients. RESULTS: The ratio of male to female was 2.3 1. The majority of the patients were between 1 and 5 years of age. 82.3% of the cases occurred from May to August with a peak incidence rate of 31.4% in June. The clinical manifestations were fever(92.6%), headache(88.9%), vomiting(87.9%), poor oral intake(54.9%), abdominal pain(35.8%) and neck stiffness(65.9%). On the blood examination, leukocytosis(WBC>10,000/mm3) was shown in 57.5%. On the CSF examination, WBC counts were less than 500/mm3 in 89% and protein levels were less than 45 mg/dL in 62.3% and glucose levels were more than 40 mg/dL in 97.1%. We did not isolate the causative viral agents. CONCLUSION: The clinical manifestations, and the blood and CSF profiles of the aseptic meningitis patients in this study showed no great differences compared to those in other aseptic meningitis studies.