Predicting factors and prevalence of meningitis in patients with first seizure and fever aged 6 to 18 months

Article Figures & Data

Table 1

Clinical aspects of first seizure patients aged 6-18 months with and without meningitis that underwent lumbar puncture.

Variable	Meningitis, n (%)		P-value
Variable	Positive (N=80)	Negative (N=373)	P-value
*Gender*			0.90
Male	42 (52.5)	193 (51.7)
Female	38 (47.5)	180 (48.3)
*Febrile seizure*			0.83
Apparently simple	35 (43.8)	168 (45.0)
Apparently complex	45 (56.2)	205 (55.0)
*Frequency of seizure attack*			0.61
Once	55 (68.8)	267 (71.6)
Twice or more	25 (31.2)	106 (28.4)
*Duration of seizure*			0.15
<15 mins	74 (92.5)	323 (86.6)
≥ 15 mins	6 (7.5)	50 (13.4)
*Postictal drowsiness*			0.003
Yes	69 (86.2)	260 (69.7)
No	11 (13.8)	113 (30.3)
*Neurological deficit*			0.000
Yes	4 (5.0)	1 (0.3)
No	76 (95.0)	372 (99.7)
*Body temperature*			0.035
<38.5°c	38 (47.5)	225 (60.3)
≥38.5°c	42 (52.5)	148 (39.7)
*Hemoglobin*			0.02
<10.5 _gr/dl	49 (61.2)	175 (46.9)
≥10.5 _gr/dl	31 (38.8)	198 (53.1)
*White blood cell count*			0.004
<15000 mm³	50 (62.5)	291 (78.0)
≥15000 mm³	30 (37.5)	82 (22.0)
*Family history of febrile seizure*			0.024
Yes	6 (7.5)	66 (17.7)
No	74 (92.5)	307 (82.3)
*Time of seizure occurrence from beginning of fever*			0.38
<24 hours	36 (45)	188 (50.4)
>24 hours	44 (55)	185 (49.6)

Table 2

Independent variables for predicting meningitis among first seizure patients aged 6-18 months with and without meningitis.

Variables	EXP(B)	95% CI lower-upper	P-value
*Neurologic deficit*		2.741-322.476	0.005
Yes	29.731
No	1
*Postictal drowsiness*		1.581-6.433	0.001
Yes	3.189
No	1
*Body temperature*		1.033-2.887	0.037
≥38.5°C	1.727
<38.5°C	1
*White blood cell count*		1.368-4.072	0.002
≥15000 mm³	2.360
<15000 mm³	1
*Hemoglobin*		1.156-3.293	0. 012
<10.5 gr/dl	1.951
≥10.5 gr/dl	1

Table 3

Rate of meningitis in children with seizure and fever from different studies.

Study	Number of cases	Age (months)	Meningitis (%)
Batra et al, India8	497	6-18	2.4
Joshi Batajoo et al, Nepal10	175	6-60	17.0
Ghotbi & Shiva, Iran9	254	6-60	4.7
Tinsa et al, Tunis11	106	<12	10.0
Kimia et al USA14	526	6-18	2.7
Current study	453	6-18	17.6