African Journal of Infectious Diseases Research

African Journal of Infectious Diseases Research ISSN 2756-3340 Vol. 12 (3), pp. 001-009, March, 2025. Available online at www.internationalscholarsjournals.org © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Vaccines Over Antibiotics: Saudi Arabia's Journey of Managing Pediatric Bacterial Meningitis

Rebecca Philips MD^1,2, Emily R. Johnson³ Medical Student, Sarah L. Williams³ Medical Student, Michael T. Brown³ Medical Students, David A. Thompson MBBS^,4,5 Robert C. Lee MPH¹

¹George Washington Milken School of Public Health, Washington, DC, United States.
²Pediatric Department, Bronxcare Health System, New York, NY, United States.
³College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁴Microbiology Unit, Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁵King Saud University Medical City, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Received 03 March, 2025; Revised 22 March, 2025; Accepted 24 March, 2025; Published 27 March, 2025

Abstract

Introduction: Saudi Arabia had high rates of bacterial meningitis in the late 90s. Children are at highest risk of this devastating disease with poor outcomes.  Objective: The study aims to evaluate the prevalence, causative pathogens, and antibiotic resistance patterns in pediatric bacterial meningitis cases at a tertiary hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Methodology: Single-center retrospective chart review and cross-sectional methodology was conducted at King Saud University Medical City (KSUMC) from 2015 to 2023. Result: Reviewing 8 years of CSF culture results only yielded 37 cases. This is only 0.5% of total hospital admissions over 8 years. The majority of cases were for children under the age of 2 years (82%). Gender of cases was almost equal and there was no seasonal variation. The most common organisms were gram-positive (14, 38%) including Group B streptococcus (GBS) (4, 11%), Streptococcus pneumoniae (4, 11%). Gram-negative organisms caused 8 cases (22%) by 5 different organisms. There was no Hemphlus influenza type B or meningococcus found in any of the CSF cultures. The single sample of Staphylococcus aureus was methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and three gram-negative organisms were multidrug resistant. Conclusion: Saudi Arabia provides an example of the success of a mass vaccination program to curb the burden of pediatric bacterial meningitis. Future efforts should focus on antibiotic stewardship, mass screening of GBS, and adopting additional strains for the pneumococcus vaccine. Further research is needed to address the rising number of gram-negative organisms causing pediatric bacterial meningitis in Saudi Arabia and globally.  

Keywords: Saudi Arabia, Bacterial Meningitis, Vaccines, Antibiotics, Drug Resistance.