Bacterial meningitis in infants < 3 months of age: the burden of disease and prospects for improving the outcome
Current research
- Health Protection Agency, Salisbury, UK, Birmingham Women’s Hospital, Birmingham, UK, St George's University of London, London, UK, St Mary’s Hospital, London, UK
- Researchers:
Catherine Goodall, Dr Alan Johnson, Dr Mark Anthony, Dr Nelly Ninis, Dr Paul Heath
- Start Date: 01 February 2010
- Type: Scientific
Meningitis is associated with significant mortality and morbidity in infants in the first 3 months of life. The most recent national surveillance study (1996-7) identified an overall mortality of 10% with 50% of cases having some form of disability at 5 year follow-up (24% serious); a risk of serious disability 16-fold higher than that of GP-matched controls. The mortality has declined over the last 2 decades but there has been no change in the long term morbidity. Despite this there have been no attempts to assess the quality of current diagnostic and management strategies. It seems likely that improved recognition, evaluation and treatment of bacterial meningitis in infants could lead to a reduction in mortality and morbidity.
Such analyses have been undertaken previously in the areas of paediatric meningococcal disease and adult meningitis. These have revealed deficiencies in healthcare delivery and suggested that these may play a part in adverse outcomes.
There are a number of reasons why the epidemiology and management of meningitis in this age group may have changed over the last 10 years and an accurate picture of this is needed. As there are no published guidelines in this area, "Best Practice" standards of clinical care will be formulated by an expert panel based on an evidence based review of the literature. The standards will relate to multiple steps in the diagnosis and management process from first assessment through to follow-up. We will then measure and report clinical practice against the study standards and identify areas for improvement.