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The prevalence of meningitis-induced hearing loss in North-Eastern Nigeria
Abstract
Background/Objectives: North- Eastern Nigeria lies within the meningitis belt of sub-Saharan Africa, cases of post-meningitic survivors presenting with hearing loss were often seen in the ENT clinic of the university of maiduguri teaching hospital The study was to determine the prevalence of meningitis- induced hearing loss in post-meningitic survivors presenting to our clinic.
Patients and methods: The study was retrospective which constituted of patient's records who presented to the E.N.T clinic with hearing loss or diminished hearing as from January 1998 to December 2003. Patient's biodata, clinical findings and results of audiometric tests were documented. Those with tympanic membrane perforations and those who could not do PTA or FFA were excluded from the study.
Results: A total of 427 patients presented to the E.N.T clinic with hearing loss or diminished hearing, Out of this figure, 91(21.3%) were due to meningitis-induced hearing loss. In 93 (21.8%) there were no known cause. The various causes of hearing loss, in the remaining 243 patients, ranges from febrile illness with 10.5%, to cerumen auris with 0.5%. The male to female ratio, M: F=2:1 and children 5yrs and below were mostly affected.PTA and FFA were the audiometric tests conducted on all the patients where applicable. The results showed most post-meningitic surviving patients had severe- profound bilateral SNHL.
Conclusion: The study showed that meningitis-induced hearing loss is common in the north-eastern part of Nigeria, which lies within the meningitis belt of sub-Saharan Africa. Post-infective surviving children were the most commonly affected, hence febrile illness in both children and adults should be thoroughly investigated and treated appropriately and the common use of over-the-counter drugs should be discouraged in such cases. Adequate community enlightenment as regards the advantages of meningococcal vaccine should be done since this is freely given by the government.
Keywords: SNHL: Sensory-neural hearing loss, PTA: Pure tone audiometry, FFA: Free field audiometry, CSM: cerebro-spinal meningitis
Highland Medical Research Journal Vol. 3(2) 2005: 108-115
Patients and methods: The study was retrospective which constituted of patient's records who presented to the E.N.T clinic with hearing loss or diminished hearing as from January 1998 to December 2003. Patient's biodata, clinical findings and results of audiometric tests were documented. Those with tympanic membrane perforations and those who could not do PTA or FFA were excluded from the study.
Results: A total of 427 patients presented to the E.N.T clinic with hearing loss or diminished hearing, Out of this figure, 91(21.3%) were due to meningitis-induced hearing loss. In 93 (21.8%) there were no known cause. The various causes of hearing loss, in the remaining 243 patients, ranges from febrile illness with 10.5%, to cerumen auris with 0.5%. The male to female ratio, M: F=2:1 and children 5yrs and below were mostly affected.PTA and FFA were the audiometric tests conducted on all the patients where applicable. The results showed most post-meningitic surviving patients had severe- profound bilateral SNHL.
Conclusion: The study showed that meningitis-induced hearing loss is common in the north-eastern part of Nigeria, which lies within the meningitis belt of sub-Saharan Africa. Post-infective surviving children were the most commonly affected, hence febrile illness in both children and adults should be thoroughly investigated and treated appropriately and the common use of over-the-counter drugs should be discouraged in such cases. Adequate community enlightenment as regards the advantages of meningococcal vaccine should be done since this is freely given by the government.
Keywords: SNHL: Sensory-neural hearing loss, PTA: Pure tone audiometry, FFA: Free field audiometry, CSM: cerebro-spinal meningitis
Highland Medical Research Journal Vol. 3(2) 2005: 108-115
