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Clinical characteristics and serogroup analysis of 16 pediatric cases of meningococcal meningitis

Yao TX, Liu J, Liu FR, Yu SJ

Zhonghua er ke za zhi = Chinese journal of pediatrics, 2025

16 participants · 1 citation

Abstract

Objective: To explore the clinical characteristics and serogroup distribution of meningococcal meningitis. Methods: This study was a case series summary of the demographic data, laboratory results, vaccination history, clinical diagnoses,treatment and prognosis of 16 children with meningococcal meningitis who were hospitalized in Department of Infectious Diseases, Hunan Children's Hospital from April 2014 to March 2024. According to ages, these patients were divided into infants and toddlers (≤3 years) and school-aged children (6-15 years) groups. Between-group comparison was performed using Independent samples t-test and Mann-Whitney U test. Results: A total of 16 hospitalized patients were included, of whom 8 were male and 8 female. The age of these patients at visit was 4.25 (0.33, 12.30) years. The cases presented a sporadic distribution. There were 11 cases from rural regions, 6 patients were unvaccinated due to age restriction.All patients presented with acute onset, with neurological symptoms manifesting within 0.6 (0.5, 1.0) days, and the duration of hospitalization was 20 (12, 28) days. There were 10 typical cases and 6 fulminant cases, with fever duration ≤7 days in 7 cases. Clinical manifestations included petechiae and purpura in 8 cases, shock in 3 cases, respiratory failure in 3 cases, and disseminated intravascular coagulation in 4 cases. There were 8 cases in both the infant and toddlers group and the school-aged childrengroup, 5 cases in the infant and…

How strong is the evidence?

Evidence Hub reads this as a case series, done in people. Its evidence level is 5 of 5 (Very low · case / narrative / animal / in vitro / in silico). Case reports, narrative reviews, and animal, cell or computer-model studies give the weakest evidence for human health. Reported size: 16 participants or records.

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