Nutritional status of children with bacterial meningitis

A study undertaken to determine whether there is any association between nutritional status and bacterial meningitis showed that of 304 children with bacterial meningitis seen in a 2-year period at Baragwanath Hospital, only 20,4% had protein energy malnutrition (PEM), whereas 34% of all children admitted had avert malnutrition. Relating these figures to the nutritional status of the population served by this hospital showed that the prevalence of PEM in children with meningitis did not differ from that in the community in which they lived. Possible reasons for the absence of an association between PEM and malnutrition are discussed.