Armaghane Danesh Bimonthly Journal (Jul 2024)
Evaluation of Frequency Bacterial Meningitis Causes with Febrile Seizures in Children Under Five years at Imam Sajjad Hospital
Abstract
Background & aim: Febrile seizure is one of the most common neurological diseases in children, which occurs in 3-5% of children aged 6 months to 5 years. This type of seizure, which is the most common form of seizure in children, is usually harmless and does not increase the risk of non-febrile seizures. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine and investigate the frequency of bacterial meningitis in febrile convulsions in children under five years of age at Imam Sajad Hospital in Yasuj, Iran, from 2018 to 2020. Methods: In the present descriptive-analytical study conducted in the pediatric department of Imam Sajad Hospital of Yasuj, Iran, the total number of febrile convulsion patients in children under five years of age admitted to the pediatric department between 2018 and 2020 was determined and by examining the information recorded in the medical record of each patient, the items mentioned in the questionnaire form were completed. The questionnaire included personal-social and background information of patients such as age, gender, underlying disease, seizure history, neurological symptoms including; Neck stiffness, Kerning and Brodzinski, clinical symptoms include headache and vomiting and treatment. The collected data were analyzed using chi-square and descriptive statistical tests, including frequency and mean. Results: Out of 296 children under five years of age with fever-convulsions in the study according to gender, 121 were girls and 175 were boys. There was no significant difference between patients diagnosed with bacterial meningitis and other patients according to gender. Moreover, no significant relationship was observed for the variables of age, vomiting and lethargy. In the analysis of the obtained results, the symptoms of headache, Kerning, Brodzinski, neck stiffness and type of seizure had a significant relationship with bacterial meningitis compared to other patients suspected of having meningitis (p<0.05). Comparing the distribution of fever-seizure patients according to the frequency of LP and positive CSF cases indicated that there was a significant difference between patients diagnosed with bacterial meningitis and other patients (p value = 0.000). Conclusion: no positive sample of bacterial culture was observed and the diagnosis was based on the clinical judgment of the physician and CSF analysis. A number of clinical symptoms were significantly related to the cases diagnosed as bacterial meningitis, and these clinical findings can be used for a more accurate diagnosis of bacterial meningitis. Though these patients were not significantly different from other patients in terms of demographic factors, these indicators can help in better diagnosis of bacterial meningitis in Yasuj patients.
