The epidemiology and clinical spectrum of infections of the central nervous system in adults in north India.

The epidemiology and clinical spectrum of infections of the central nervous system in adults in north India. Trop Doct. 2020 Oct 06;:49475520959905 Authors: Kumar D, Pannu AK, Dhibar DP, Singh R, Kumari S Abstract Infections of the central nervous system (CNS) are a leading cause of mortality in low- and middle-income countries. We studied the spectrum, aetiology and outcome of CNS infections in 401 consecutive patients aged ≥12 years admitted at the medical emergency centre of PGIMER, Chandigarh, India. An aetiological diagnosis was made in 365 (91.0%) patients, with 149 (40.8%) microbiologically confirmed cases. CNS tuberculosis was the most prevalent cause (51.5%), followed by viral meningoencephalitis (13.9%), community-acquired bacterial meningitis (9.7%), cryptococcal meningitis (6.2%), scrub typhus meningoencephalitis (1.7%), neurocysticercosis (1.7%) and fungal brain abscess (1.7%). Human immunodeficiency virus (11.0%) and diabetes mellitus (6.2%) remained the usual predisposing conditions. We found a mortality rate of 27.9%, highest in cases without an aetiology (64.5%). Tuberculosis remained the most common cause; however, an increasing number of scrub typhus, dengue, fungal infections and non-classical bacterial pathogens may indicate a change in the epidemiology of community-acquired CNS infections in India. PMID: 33019910 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Tropical Doctor - Category: Tropical Medicine Authors: Tags: Trop Doct Source Type: research