Predictive signs and symptoms of Bacterial Meningitis isolates in Northern Ghana

ABSTRACT Background Cerebrospinal meningitis (CSM) is a public health burden in Ghana that causes up to 10% mortality of the disease annually. About 20% of those who survive cerebrospinal meningitis suffer permanent sequelae. The study sought to understand the predictive signs and symptoms of bacterial meningitis implicated in its outcomes. Method Retrospective data from the Public Health Division, Ghana Health Service on bacterial meningitis from 2015 to 2019 used for this study. A pre-tested data extraction form was used to collect patients’ information from case-based forms kept at the Disease Control Unit from 2015 to 2019. Data were transcribed from the case-based forms into a pre-designed Microsoft Excel template. The data was cleaned and imported into SPSS version 26 for analysis. Results Between 2015-2019, a total of 2,446 CSM cases were reported. Out of these, 842 were confirmed. Among the confirmed cases, males constituted 55.3%. Children below 14 years of age were most affected (51.4%). The pathogens commonly responsible for bacterial meningitis were Neisseria meningitidis and Streptococcus pneumoniae with their respective strains especially Nm W135, Nm X, Spn St. 1 , and Spn St. 12F/12A/12B/44/4 being responsible for most of the confirmed cases. The most predictive sign and symptom for bacterial meningitis was fever ( X 2 =5 . 738 a ; p <0 . 05; AOR=1 . 303 ). Identified signs that were associated but less likely to cause disease were abdominal pain ( X 2 =12 . 038 a ; p <0 . 05; AOR=0 . 597) , neck stiffness ( X 2 =6 . 447 a ; p <0 . 05; AOR=0 . 788) , altered consciousness ( X 2 =15 . 438 a ; p <0 . 05; AOR=0 . 673) , and convulsion ( X 2 =15 . 084 a ; p <0 . 05; AOR=0 . 678) . Conclusion The confirmed cases of bacterial meningitis from 2015 to 2019 had fever as the main predictive symptom. It is therefore noticed that abdominal pain, neck stiffness, altered consciousness and convulsion did not associate with CSM within the study period.