Bacterial Meningitis among Adult Patients at University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Referral Hospital: Prevalence and Antimicrobial Susceptibility Patterns

Abstract Background: Bacterial meningitis is a bacterial infection that causes inflammation of the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord. The most frequent causes of bacterial meningitis are N. meningitidis, Streptococcus pneumonia, Listeria monocytogenes, and Homophiles influenza. This study aimed to determine bacterial meningitis and their antibiotic susceptibility patterns among adult patients.Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted on 3,683 patients to determine bacterial meningitis and their antibiotic susceptibility patterns from 2011 to 2020. Cerebrospinal fluid samples were collected and inoculated on blood and chocolate agar plates, and then incubated at 37oc for 24 hours. Bacterial identification performed using morphological characters, gram stain, and standardized biochemical tests. Records of 3,683 culture results were collected and reviewed using a checklist from the registration book. Finally, data was entered, cleared, and checked using Epi-info version 7 and exported to SPSS version 20 for analysis. Logistic regression used for statistical association. The results were displayed using tables and figures. P-value < 0.05 at 95% CI was considered as statistically significant.Results: Of the 3,683 patients, the overall prevalence of bacterial meningitis was 1.28% (47/3683). Of them, bacterial meningitis in males was 0.9% (33/3683) whereas, it was 0.38% (14/3683) in females. Bacterial meningitis among inpatients, 1.16% (43/3683) was higher than their outpatient counterparts, 0.12% (4/3683). Ceftriaxone, chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, vancomycin, clindamycin, and erythromycin were the most effective antibiotics whereas penicillin, tetracycline, and cotrimoxazole were the least effective antibiotics for isolates. Being male in sex (P = 0.048, AOR = 0.53, CI = 0.283-0.993) was significantly associated with bacterial meningitis.Conclusions: The prevalence of bacterial meningitis among adult patients was 1.28%, which is considerably high. Being male in gender is a risk factor for bacterial meningitis. Therefore, infection preventive measures are required with a particular focus on adult patients. Further research is needed to explore the epidemiology and risk factors of meningitis.