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Query: UMLS:C0085437 (bacterial meningitis)
 4,038 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A questionnaire about the use of prophylactic antibiotics in bacterial meningitis was sent to medical officers of environmental health and microbiologists in England. There was broad agreement that prophylaxis should be offered to close contacts of acute meningitis due to Neisseria meningitidis but not to contacts of meningitis caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae. Overall 28% of those who replied said they could consider giving prophylaxis to contacts of meningitis due to Haemophilus influenzae. Rifampicin was the most common choice of drug. The indications for prophylaxis in bacterial meningitis are discussed.
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PMID:Prophylaxis in bacterial meningitis. 286 93

A review of the published literature has allowed the identification of a number of non-tubercular indications where rifampicin (trade mark Ciba-Geigy: Rimactane) has been successfully used in combination with other chemotherapeutic agents. The cases reviewed with regard to effectiveness sum 562. The most frequently combined drugs were aminoglycosides (mainly gentamicin), cotrimoxazole, colistine, vancomycin and fusidic acid, these two latter in cases due to Staphylococcus spp. The main indications where combined rifampicin treatment led to favourable results were UTI (success rate 64.9%), bone infections (86.9%), staphylococcal endocarditis (85.0%), respiratory tract infections often due to gram-negative rods (97.7%) as well as skin and soft tissue infections (83.3%), and bacterial meningitis (100%). Very favourable results were obtained in a non-life-threatening though epidemiologically important condition, i.e. salmonella carriers, where a 100% conversion rate was reached in an average period of 6 weeks. Special attention may deserve the combined treatment of fungal infections with rifampicin and amphotericin B. Tolerability was evaluated on a total of 650 cases. It appears to be good for daily doses up to 1,200 mg/day, even on long-term treatment; less so for the highest doses used (1,800 or 30 mg/kg a day). The clinical results, which are in good agreement with the results of the in vitro tests, indicate that rifampicin may have an important role in the combined treatment of severe non-mycobacterial infections. Further prospective, whenever possible, comparative studies are warranted for a thorough appraisal of its possible usefulness.
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PMID:Rifampicin in free combination with other antimicrobial drugs in non-Tb infections. Clinical data on 650 patients (a review). 702 Oct 80

A parenteral formulation of rifampicin (Rimactan i.v., Ciba-Geigy, Basel, Switzerland) was administered to 237 critically ill or comatose patients, or patients with gastro-intestinal or absorption problems. There were 160 patients suffering from tuberculosis, 77 suffering from non-tuberculous (non-tb) infections including 30 cases of sepsis, 8 cases of bacterial meningitis and/or cerebral abscess and 9 patients with Legionnaires' disease. The usual daily dose of rifampicin was 450-600 mg, administered in most cases by i.v. bolus (122 cases) or i.v. drip infusion (79 cases) for a period of 1-113 days. Rifampicin was in all cases combined with one or more antimicrobial drug(s). The physicians considered the therapy as successful when the treatment with oral rifampicin could be instituted soon after parenteral administration or when the patients markedly improved their clinical condition. Of a total of 123 tuberculous patients for whom assessment of efficacy was possible, 100 (81.3%) showed favourable clinical results. Of 40 non-tb patients who could be analysed for clinical progress, 32 (80.0%) had a favourable outcome. Special attention should be drawn to the 11 patients with proven staphylococcal infections, of whom 10 were cured clinically and/or bacteriologically. Thrombophlebitis occurred in 10 out of the 237 (4.2%) patients, almost always in patients who were treated for more than 30 days. Systemic unwanted effects occurred in 14 (5.9%); the relationship to the treatment was not always established. Treatment was withdrawn due to unwanted effects in 5 (2.1%) of the 237 patients. Taking into account the severe, life-threatening infections reported, the results suggest that i.v. rifampicin is useful and in some critically ill patients even life-saving. Tolerability was good, even in long-term i.v. administration, although there seems to be the possibility that thrombophlebitis might develop if treatment is continued over 30 days.
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PMID:Parenteral rifampicin in tuberculous and severe non-mycobacterial infections. Clinical data on 237 patients. 709 64

Hemophilus influenza, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Neisseria meningitidis account for over 75% of all cases of bacterial meningitis. S. pneumoniae is the commonest causative organism in many developing countries, particularly in Africa. In developing countries overall case fatality rates of 33-44% have been reported, rising to over 60% in adult groups. S. pneumoniae accounts for the highest mortality worldwide. Sequela rates of 22-26% of survivors have been found in African studies, mostly of a neurological nature. There have been few reports of AIDS-related bacterial meningitis in the USA, and a recent study from Uganda found no association between HIV infection and meningococcal meningitis. Stronger associations have been found between opportunistic infections, both viral (cytomegalovirus, herpes virus) and non-viral (TB, Toxoplasma gondii, Cryptococcus neoformans). A lumbar puncture and analysis of the cerebrospinal fluid should be performed on suspected cases unless there is suspicion of impending coning (decreasing consciousness or focal neurological signs). The intramuscular administration of chloramphenicol alone is comparable with intravenous use, and can be given as a shorter course of therapy (2 or 3 days) followed by an oral course. The use of adjunct therapy with corticosteroids in children is now commonplace in the USA and Europe. It appears reasonable to use dexamethasone, given early and in high dosage (0.15 mg/kg 6 hourly for 4 days), in those patients who are severely ill. Rifampicin is effective for chemoprophylaxis (10 mg/kg twice daily for 2 days for meningococcal contacts, 20 mg/kg once daily for 4 days for hemophilus contacts, maximum 600 mg per dose). The recent development and introduction of conjugate vaccines for H. influenza (HIB) has led to rapid reductions in the incidence of hemophilus meningitis in many European countries. An important step in improving prognosis is to increase awareness in both health workers and the public, to encourage early hospital referral, and early antibiotic therapy.
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PMID:Bacterial meningitis in developing countries. 868 85

Treatment of pneumococcal meningitis has become problematic because of the emergence of penicillin- and cephalosporin-resistant strains and because of the concern that dexamethasone therapy might reduce penetration of antibiotics into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). We addressed these issues with our rabbit meningitis model by studying two pneumococcal isolates that were resistant to penicillin and ceftriaxone and susceptible to vancomycin and rifampin. Ceftriaxone, vancomycin, and rifampin were given alone or in combination, with or without coadministration of dexamethasone. Treatment was started 12 to 14 h after intracisternal inoculation of approximately 10(4) CFU of one of the organisms. Rifampin concentrations in serum and CSF were similar, regardless of whether dexamethasone was given, whereas those of ceftriaxone were somewhat lower at each time point in animals given dexamethasone. The penetration of vancomycin into CSF was consistently and substantially reduced with dexamethasone treatment, which resulted in a delay in CSF sterilization not observed in non-dexamethasone-treated animals. When rifampin was used with ceftriaxone for treatment of meningitis caused by the more resistant strain, bacteriologic cure occurred promptly, with or without dexamethasone therapy. In areas with high rates of occurrence of resistant pneumococcal strains, we believe initial empiric therapy of bacterial meningitis should include two antibiotics: ceftriaxone and either rifampin or vancomycin. When dexamethasone is used, the combination of ceftriaxone and rifampin is preferred for therapy.
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PMID:Effect of dexamethasone on therapy of experimental penicillin- and cephalosporin-resistant pneumococcal meningitis. 809 32

1. About 10-25 per cent of the general population may be carriers of bacterial meningitis. 2. Rifampicin may be given to close contacts of the patient and on discharge. 3. Counselling the patient and family on complications after meningitis is essential. 4. Education on meningitis for nurses could be improved to enable them to act effectively in the community.
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PMID:Meningitis: causes, treatment and care. 814 Jan 4

Bacterial meningitis caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae is an important cause of neurological morbidity and mortality in both children and adults. With increasing antibiotic resistance in pneumococci and documented microbiological failure in treatment of pneumococcal meningitis with cefotaxime and ceftriaxone, the need for alternative antibiotic therapy is critical. Of the currently available options, vancomycin has shown the most promise, particularly when used in combination with ceftriaxone or cefotaxime. Rifampin, also used in combination with either ceftriaxone or cefotaxime, has demonstrated encouraging preliminary results against antibiotic-resistant pneumococci as well. Chloramphenicol has unexpectedly yielded discouraging clinical results in children with infection caused by penicillin-resistant strains. Of the investigational antibiotics currently in clinical trials for the treatment of meningitis, meropenem, a carbapenem-class antibiotic, has demonstrated increased activity against penicillin-resistant pneumococci compared with that of other beta-lactam antibiotics, while having a safety profile similar to that of the cephalosporins.
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PMID:The challenge of penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis: current antibiotic therapy in the 1990s. 912 96

Compared with beta-lactam antibiotics, rifampin releases smaller quantities of proinflammatory cell wall products from Streptococcus pneumoniae in vitro. Mice infected intracerebrally with S. pneumoniae were treated subcutaneously with 2-mg doses of rifampin or ceftriaxone (n=43 each) every 12 h for 3 days and then observed for another 3 days. Rifampin reduced overall mortality from 49% to 26% (P=.04). Kaplan-Meyer analysis revealed a substantial reduction of mortality during the first 24 h in mice receiving rifampin (difference in survival time: P=.007). Eight h after receiving a single 2-mg dose of rifampin or ceftriaxone, rifampin-treated mice had lower serum and cerebrospinal fluid concentrations of lipoteichoic and teichoic acids than did ceftriaxone-treated mice (median serum level: <0.5 vs. 27.0 ng/mL, P=.02; median cerebrospinal fluid level of pooled specimens: 97.5 vs. 206.0 ng/mL). Thus, the use of rifampin appears promising for reducing the release of proinflammatory bacterial components and decreasing early mortality in bacterial meningitis.
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PMID:Rifampin reduces early mortality in experimental Streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis. 1022 82

The objective of this study was to describe the epidemiology and public health response to an apparent cluster of Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C infection in university students in a residential college. A conventional epidemiological approach was taken, supported by routine and novel diagnostic techniques. Over the two days of 21-22 August 1997, three cases of suspected meningococcal infection were notified from a residential college complex at a university campus in the Sydney metropolitan area. Neisseria meningitidis was grown from throat swabs of all three cases, and was isolated from the blood of one case only. All three isolates were typed as C:2a:P1.5,2. Seroconversion was demonstrated by a novel method in the three cases. Rifampicin was given to all identified contacts. Forty-seven days after the index case, a 19 year old female living in the same complex was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis, and identified contacts given rifampicin. When this isolate was found to be group C, it was decided to vaccinate residents of the college complex. Genotyping and serotyping (C:2a:P1.5) later revealed the fourth isolate to be distinct from isolates from Cases 1-3. In conclusion the authors note that Australia's increasing capacity to type meningococcal strains is essential to understanding the epidemiology of this disease. Furthermore, typing information is of critical importance when decisions are made regarding mass vaccination. As early antibiotic treatment may inhibit isolation of the organism, development of novel approaches to diagnosis and typing should be supported.
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PMID:Unusual cluster of mild invasive serogroup C meningococcal infection in a university college. 1058 18

The emergence of resistance has imposed a modification of the protocols for the treatment of Streptococcus pneumoniae (S pneumoniae) bacterial meningitis. Amoxicillin is no longer adapted. As resistance to C3G appeared, a synergistic effect of an association C3G + vancomycine was demonstrated. Thus currently this association should be recommended in any case of meningitis supposedly due to S pneumoniae. The treatment is then modified according to the evolution and the minimal inhibition concentration (MIC) of the bacteria. The strains carrying a high level of resistance to cephalosporin (MIC > or = 4 micrograms ml-1) or tolerant to vancomycine may cause a therapeutic failure despite an increase of the dosage of cephalosporin. Rifampicin, fosfomycine, or imipenem (despite its risk of convulsions), may represent alternative options, as long as we do not have safe quinolones active on resistant strains of S. pneumoniae. Dexamethasone has been formerly implicated in the relapse of pneumococcal meningitis. Furthermore, its use is questionable since no evidence of a therapeutic benefit has been clearly demonstrated. As a consequence of the resistance phenomenon the management of S. pneumoniae meningitis must include particular measures: at least resistance to penicillin must be checked by the oxacilline disk and the MIC to C3G must be measured by E test; aCSF sample should be obtained between 36 and 48 hours following the beginning of the treatment to check its sterilization. All recent studies have shown a similar prognosis of meningitis due to resistant S. pneumoniae as compared to those due to sensitive strains. However, these data should be interpreted with caution since in these studies, pneumococcus resistant to cephalosporin (the real problem) are not separated from those only resistant to penicillin. Furthermore, presently, the incidence of strains highly resistant to cephalosporin is still low. The new conjugated vaccine against pneumococcus should change the situation if its ability to prevent the circulation of resistant strains is confirmed.
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PMID:[Pneumococcal meningitis and resistant bacteria]. 1250 10


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