Meningitis Admitted to a Military Hospital: A Retrospective Case Series

Meningitis is a common admission diagnosis. No case series or descriptive studies on meningitis have recently been published. Additionally, no recent data exist on meningitis in the U.S. Military Health System. We reviewed charts of adult patients admitted to Naval Medical Center San Diego between January 2004 and December 2008 with an admission diagnosis of meningitis Charts were excluded if they did not meet our case definition of meningitis, if missing data, or if meningitis was nosocomial or iatrogenic. We reviewed results of cerebrospinal fluid cultures during this period. We compared rates and characteristics, and outcomes of bacterial and aseptic meningitis. Two hundred twenty-one cases met our criteria. Of these, 208 were aseptic. Cerebrospinal fluid polymerase chain reaction testing was positive for enteroviruses and herpes simplex viruses in 42 (20.2%) and 17 (8.2%) cases, respectively. Of culture/polymerase chain reaction/serologically positive cases, the pathogens were Neisseria meningitidis (3), Streptococcus pneumoniae (3), viridans streptococci (2), Cryptococcus neoformans (2), Coccidioides immitis (2), and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (1). Three patients had poor outcomes: one died from S. pneumoniae and two had long-term neurologic deficits. Meningitis is a common admission diagnosis, but serious virulent pathogens are uncommon and adverse outcomes are rare.