BACTERIAL MENINGITIS IN CHILDREN UNDER 12 YEARS OF AGE.

Background:- Bacterial meningitis in children is an infection with the greatest burden in low-income and under developed countries and it is a life- threatening infection disease with high mortality and disability rate. Treatment of this life-threatening disease should not be delayed, so that rapid antibiotic therapy should be immediately started. streptococcus pneumonia and Neisseria are the leading causative organisms. Objectives:- This study is aimed to evaluate the predominate causative agents of bacterial meningitis in children. It is also to determine the susceptibility of the isolates to the commonly used antimicrobials. Methods:- One-hundred and eighty Children in Central Child Hospital Baghdad City were the sources of the cerebrospinal fluids collected aseptically from each chilled. Each CSF sample was subjected to well Known microbiological methods for final identification. All isolates were tested for susceptibility for the commonly used antimicrobial through application of the disk diffusion method as described by kirby-Bauer. Results:- Out of 180 CSF samples from children it was possible to obtain 62(34.5%) well diagnosed bacterial isolates during the period June 20-15-June 2016. The bacterial isolates were distributed as Haemophilus influenza which ranks the highest 18(29%) followed by streptococcus pneumonia 16(25.9%). The results of the susceptibility of isolates to the commonly used antimicrobial revealed that H. influenza are highly resistant (88.9%) to Tetracycline and moderately sensitive (50%) to the drugs Ciprofoxacin and Cephalecin. Streptococcus pneumonia showed high resistance (87.5%) to the drugs Gentamycin and Catrimaxazole. Multidrug resistant is documented in this study: Eschericia coli showed complete (100%) sensitivity to chloramphenicol. Conclusion: it can be concluded that H. influenza and streptococcus pneumonia are the predominant causative agents of bacterial meningitis in children and that chloramphenicol is the drug of choice for treating bacterial meningitis in children caused by E. coli. Ampicillin is the drug of choice in the treatment of meningitis caused by Klebs. Pneumonia. No recommended drugs for H. influenza and S. pneumonia since the multidrug resistance of these two bacteria have been noticed.