Author(s)

Yacouba N. Mapoure, Henry N. Luma, Dieudonné Gnonlonfoun, Paul M. Ossou-Guiet, Xaverie Biloa, Jacques N. Doumbe, Hugo Bertrand N. Mbatchou, Benjamin Clet N. Tchaleu, Julius Y. Fonsah, Albert S. Mouelle, Alfred K. Njamnshi

Department of Clinical Sciences, Douala General Hospital, Douala, Cameroon.
Department of Clinical Sciences, The University of Douala, Douala, Cameroon.
Department of Clinical Sciences, Université des Montagnes, Douala, Cameroon.
Department of Neurology, Brazzaville University Teaching Hospital, Brazzaville, Congo.
Department of Neurology, National University Hospital Centre, Cotonou, Bénin.
Department of Neurology, The University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
Department of Neurology, Yaoundé Central Hospital, Yaoundé, Cameroon.

Objectives: Describe the clinical, aetiological and prognostic features of infectious meningitis in adults at the Douala General Hospital (DGH). Patients and Methods: We carried out a 5-year retrospective cross-sectional study at the DGH, on data from the registers of the bacteriology and biochemistry laboratories. Cases of meningitis were identified from the results of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis, and the patient clinical file was obtained. Cases files of patients aged 15 years and above were included. For each patient, sociodemographic, clinical features and hospital mortality data were extracted. Results: During study period, 1877 CSF analyses were recorded and 135 were enrolled for data analysis. Up to 74 patients (55%) were male and the mean age was 40.04 ± 12.5 years. The time lapse between the onset of symptoms and consultation was 12.24 ± 11.16 days. The main clinical signs were meningeal syndrome (96.3%), neck stiffness (71.1%), reduced alertness (64.4%) and confusional states (55.6%). The main aetiology was bacterial (45.19%) withStreptococcus pneumoniae (45.90%) and Neisseria meningitis (29.51%) leading. The other aetiologies were viral (21.48%), fungal with Cryptococcus neoformans (20%) and meningeal tuberculosis (13.33%). Fifty eight patients (42.9%) had a positive HIV serology. The mean duration of hospitalization was 9.05 ± 8.1 days, and the total in-hospital mortality was 25.18%. 117 patients (86.8%) had received antibiotherapy before diagnosis. Conclusion: The clinical features of meningitis in the DGH are as in classical description. However, the mortality is high and the major aetiologies appear to be associated with HIV infection at least in part. Prospective multi-centric studies are needed to provide more evidence for the development of staged management guidelines in our resource-limited settings.

Meningitis, Signs, Aetiologies, Mortality, Adults, Douala, Cameroon

Mapoure, Y. , Luma, H. , Gnonlonfoun, D. , Ossou-Guiet, P. , Biloa, X. , Doumbe, J. , Mbatchou, H. , Tchaleu, B. , Fonsah, J. , Mouelle, A. and Njamnshi, A. (2014) Spectrum of Meningitis in Adult at the Douala General Hospital. World Journal of Neuroscience, 4, 144-151. doi: 10.4236/wjns.2014.42017.