Cerebral malaria is one of the major and deadly complications of malaria. The present study aims at describing the clinical presentation and laboratory findings of cerebral malaria in children in Lwiro. All patients admitted in the paediatric ward of Lwiro Pediatric Hospital with malaria who presented neurological signs. 150 cases were enrolled in all, making up 34.6% of all admissions. The mean age was 4.7 years; the peak age of these patients was 0-5 years. The sex ratio was 0.9. Convulsions and coma with preceding hyperthermia were present in more than 90% of the patients. The proportion of patients with cerebral malaria only was 71.3% followed by cerebral malaria associated to anemia 21.3% and to respiratory distress 7.4%. 15 patients had hypoglycaemia on admission. There were no neurological sequels at discharge and 23 children died (15.3%). Delay in diagnosis and initiation of treatement with quinine adversely affected the prognosis of cerebral malaria in the study group.
A prospective study of 23 children with bacterial meningitis was conducted at Lwiro Hospital in South- Kivu DRC from 1 January 2012 to 28 February 2013.The proportion of bacterial meningitis among all admitted patient was 4.5%.The mean age was 4.1 years. The peak age of these patients was 5-11 years. The sex ratio was 0.9. Meningocoques were seen in 56.5% followed by pneumocoques in 34.8% and meningitis with Haemophilus influenzae 8.7%.Neurological sequelae were seen in 21.7% patients. The commonest antibiotic used for getting a quick sterilization of the cephalo-spinal liquid was Cefotaxime or Ceftriaxone. Mortality of bacterial meningitis was 13%.
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