Steroids do not provide any survival benefit of children with bacterial meningitis
Corticosteroids given to children who are admitted to hospital for bacterial meningitis, does not offer a survival advantage or shorter hospital stays after a multicenter study of pediatric research. This result is in contrast to previous studies in adults, for which corticosteroids dramatically reduced mortality in hospital. Because the benefits of these drugs have shown in adults, doctors are increasingly using corticosteroids in children with bacterial meningitis, said study leader Samir S.Shah, MD, a pediatric infectious disease specialist in Philadelphia. This study reminds us again that children are not just small adults. We must examine whether the problems associated with the use of corticosteroids, such as gastrointestinal bleeding, outweigh any potential benefits.
He added that further research should investigate whether corticosteroids may also provide other benefits for the children, such as improved neurological findings among the survivors, a question in this study are not considered. The study was seventh May issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Shah team analyzed the medical records of 2,780 children with bacterial meningitis at 27 pediatric hospitals in the United States 2001-2006. The average age of the children of nine months. About 9 percent, or 248, the children were examined corticosteroids, with steroid use doubling during the study period of less than 6 percent of children in 2001 to 12 percent in 2006.There was no significant difference in mortality nor in time of hospital discharge, between
children who received corticosteroids and those who do not. Overall, unadjusted mortality rates were 6 percent among children treated with corticosteroids, compared with 4 percent of those who do not receive them. There was also a significant difference in results between those treated and not treated with corticosteroids in the subgroups of children with pneumococcal meningitis caused by bacteria or bacterial meningitis.Pages: [1] 2 3