RustedFox
Forum Junior
Topics: 10
Posts: 41
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Hello All,
First Aid lists the common causes of meningitis as:
Newborn: Group B Strep
6 mos. to 6 yrs.: S. pneumoniae
6 - 60 yrs: N. meningitidis
60 yrs+: S. pneumoniae
However, USMLEWorld claims that S. pneumoniae is the #1 cause of ALL meningitis in adulthood. Seeing as how these two are pretty reliable resources, I'm wondering if anyone has (and can cite a source) the final end-all-and-be all to which meningitis is more common in which age groups.
Thanks for your help.
RustedFox.
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| new_n_lost
Forum Hero
Topics: 724
Posts: 6,386
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Goljan 2nd Edition Pg 579 :-
1. Neonatal Meningitis : Grp B Strep Agalactiae 1st MCC , E.Coli 2nd MCC
2. From 1 mnth to 18yrs of Age : Neisseria Meningtidis
3. From 18 yrs and above : Strep Pneumoniae.
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"never argue with a fool, they'll bring you down to their level and beat you with experience" FORUM RULES-- Those who believe in telekinesis, raise my hand. I get enough exercise just by pushing my luck --P4U World.." The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple."
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| bactitech
Forum Elite
Topics: 25
Posts: 511
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In the 32 years I have worked in microbiology I have seen far more S. pneumoniae than N. meningitidis. I've only seen the latter a couple of times. It always creates a BIG stir in a hospital that gets one of these cases because of staff exposure to the patient and to the public beforehand.
We recently had a case of Group B strep in a 40+ day old child. Unfortunately the child died a couple of days after the CSF was sent down. The smear was absolutely LOADED with gram positive cocci. I have a feeling that the parents waited too long to get care for the child, but I have no real information.
S. pneumoniae can strike at any age group. Please do not assume that S. pneumoniae cannot infect children less than 18 because that is just not the case. Back in 1985, my own niece was one month old. She had head swelling and my sister took her to the pediatrician. He admitted her immediately and did a spinal tap and blood cultures. She grew S. pneumoniae in the blood but her CSF, thank goodness, was sterile. He said if my sister had waited another 12 hours she may have been brain damaged. I was working in the lab at the time. She is now in her early 20's with no sequelae.
S. pneumoniae is incredibly common and can wreak a lot of havoc with both meningitis and pneumonia.
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Clinical Microbiology since 1974
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| RustedFox
Forum Junior
Topics: 10
Posts: 41
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Thanks for the heads-up, bacitech. New-n-lost: I'm not saying that you're wrong, but I've caught mistakes with BOTH Goljan AND First-Aid. Nevertheless, I agree. I'm going to go with a person under 18 as Neisseria, and anyone over 18 as S.pneumoniae.
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