Meningitis. Update of recommendations for the neonate

Our series of children with meningitis shows an increase in the frequency of isolation of Hemophilus influenzae type B. This increase is most marked among children between one and two months of age. Since H. influenzae was found in five of the seven children between thirty and sixty days of age, we recommend the use of chloramphenicol for the initial treatment of bacterial meningitis after the first month of life. Additionally, our mortality data suggest that early diagnosis and intensive supportive therapy can contribute to a further decrease in the fatality rate of this disease.