Objective: To study the clinical characteristics of children with meningitis caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae (SP) and the drug sensitivity of SP strains.
Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data of 14 children with SP-infected meningitis between September 2008 and March 2014.
Results: Of the 14 cases, 8 cases (57%) aged under 2 years. 13 cases (93%) had fever, 9 cases (64%) had convulsions, and 7 cases (50%) were complicated by septicemia. Eleven cases (79%) had elevated white blood cell (WBC) counts and 10 cases (71%) had elevated serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. All 14 children had an elevated nucleated cell count and neutrophils were identified as the predominant cell type. CSF protein>1000 mg/dL was noted in 9 cases (64%). Ten cases (71%) were cured, 2 cases (14.2%) with sequelae and 2 cases (14.2%) died. The drug sensitivity analysis showed that SP had resistance rates of more than 60% to penicillin, erythromycin, clindamycin, tetracycline and sulfa, but it was sensitive to amoxicillin (93%), vancomycin (100%), chloramphenicol (100%) and levofloxacin (100%).
Conclusions: The clinical characteristics of children with meningitis caused by SP are not different from those with meningitis caused by other bacteria. SP strains are resistant to common antibiotics used in clinical practice, so it is important to monitor the drug resistance of the strains.