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. 2024 Dec;44(12):1822-1826.
doi: 10.1038/s41372-024-02069-0. Epub 2024 Jul 26.

Epidemiology and outcomes of bacterial meningitis in the neonatal intensive care unit

Samia Aleem  1 , Daniel K Benjamin Jr  2   3 , Charles M Burns  4 , Jacob Duncan  5 , Kalkidan Melaku  5 , Abdulaziz Norbekov  5 , Bethany Graham  5 , Sriya Mantena  5 , Tomi Ladipo  5 , Ayan Jung  6 , Kanecia O Zimmerman  1   5 , Reese H Clark  7 , Rachel G Greenberg  8   9
Affiliations

Epidemiology and outcomes of bacterial meningitis in the neonatal intensive care unit

Samia Aleem et al. J Perinatol. 2024 Dec.

Abstract

Objective: Examine pathogen distribution, antibiotic resistance patterns, and hospital outcomes of infants with bacterial meningitis in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in the US from 2013-2018.

Study design: Infants were divided into 2 groups based on age at the time of meningitis: early-onset (0-3 days) and late-onset (>3 days). We compared demographics, clinical characteristics, epidemiology, hospital outcomes, distribution of organisms and resistance, and blood culture timing relative to cerebrospinal fluid culture.

Results: From 345 NICUs, 659 infants were diagnosed with bacterial meningitis. The cumulative incidence was 1.1-1.3 cases/1000 NICU discharges. Median gestational age was 33 weeks, median birth weight was 1910 grams, 12% failed hearing screening, and 9% died prior to discharge. Of 141 cases of E. coli meningitis, 53% were resistant to ampicillin.

Conclusions: Significant morbidities occur in infants with culture-proven meningitis in NICUs. Culture and subsequent discernment of sensitivity are crucial to guide definitive therapy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: DKB reports consultancy for Allergan, Melinta Therapeutics, and Sun Pharma Advanced Research Co. KOZ reports funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). RGG reports support from industry for research services ( https://dcri.org/about-us/conflict-of-interest/ ). All other authors report no conflicts of interest. Ethics approval: This study was approved by the Duke University Institutional Review Board as exempt research. This study was performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

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