Review of meningococcal infection in children at a United Kingdom Hospital

Sixty-nine children were identified and evaluable. Forty-one (60%) presented with hypotension and/or abnormal neurological signs. In 34 (49%) a petechial rash was present on admission. Of note, 13 (19%) had a non-petechial rash, and rash was absent in 19 (28%). Twenty-one (30%) presented with meningism or meningitis. In one child the illness was so mild that the child was discharged prior to making a diagnosis. Five children died (7%). Sixty-three cases (91%) were diagnosed by blood or cerebrospinal fluid culture; these investigations remain the mainstay of diagnosis.