Those complications may include persistent hearing loss, mental retardation, and recurrent convulsions, and they occur in 20 to 30 percent of those who survive a bout of bacterial meningitis. An additional type of therapy has been proposed for children with bacterial meningitis, based on the possibility of staving off one of these neurological aftereffects. One group of researchers has suggested that adding dexamethasone, a corticosteroid hormone, to the antibiotic treatment may help prevent subsequent deafness. The original reports came from just one medical center. Right now, there are studies being conducted around the country.
Corticosteroids can also have adverse side effects.
Over the past few years, there have been about 2,400 to 2,900 cases of meningococcal infection reported annually to the national Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. The overall incidence is 1 to 1.5 cases per 100,000 population. These figures consistently show that Hib cases outnumber meningococcal meningitis cases by about 3 to 1. Among small children, the comparative attack rate has been far higher. Both physicians and parents have therefore welcomed the availability of effective vaccines to combat Hib.