The clinical burden and predictors of sequelae following invasive meningococcal disease in Australian children

Abstract

Of 109 children admitted to a tertiary paediatric hospital with a diagnosis of invasive meningococcal disease from 2000-2011, 37.6% (n = 41) developed sequelae; for serogroup B, 41.3% developed sequelae. Independent predictors of sequelae included: fever ≥ 39 °C on hospital presentation [odds ratio (OR): 4.5; P = 0.012] and a diagnosis of septicemia with meningitis compared with septicemia alone (OR: 15.5; P < 0.001) and meningitis alone (OR: 7.8; P = 0.002).