Perfil etiológico da meningite bacteriana no estado do Tocantins

Abstract

The bacterial meningitis is still a public health problem in Brazil, studying it in all its aspects causes that the chances of interventions can be discovered in order to reduce their high mortality rates and sequelae among people affected. The present study aimed to characterize the etiological profile of bacterial meningitis in the state of Tocantins, from 2010 to 2017, through a retrospective cross-sectional study of a quantitative nature, based on data from the Central Laboratory of Public Health of the State of Tocantins (LACEN-TO), in relation to cerebrospinal fluid cultures (CSF) for the laboratory diagnosis of bacterial meningitis. This study found that 2041 cultures of CSF and low microbiological growth were performed among them. The bacterial group with the highest growth among the positive cultures were coagulase negative Staphylococcus (SCN), mainly S. epidermides. Among the bacteria of public health importance, Streptococcus pneumoniae (serotype 3 and 19A) was the most prevalent, affecting mainly male individuals and the age groups below 60 years, with no significant distinction among children, adolescents and adults, followed Neisseria meningitides (serogroup C) and Haemophilus influenzae (serotype b); the majority of serotypes of S. pneumoniae showed antimicrobial susceptibility, except for serotype 19A, which presented multiresistance. Thus, the main etiological agent of bacterial meningitis in the State of Tocantins, of importance to public health, during the period studied was Streptococcus pneumoniae, but due to the low positivity of cultures and isolation of these agents, it is necessary to have improvements in the laboratory diagnosis of this disease since the puncture act to minimize the growth of bacteria in the microbiota, the release of results, including introduction of new technologies, such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which may decrease the response time of the result and increase knowledge of the etiology of this less influence on sample quality and processing time.