Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37460090›Full record

Observational studyThe American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene2023

Etiology of Acute Infectious Meningitis and Meningoencephalitis in Karachi, Pakistan: Retrospective Observational Study from a Tertiary Care Center.

Sadia Shakoor, Tazeen Fatima, Fatima Mir, Asima Shahid, Najma Shaheen, Erum Khan, Bushra Jamil

Open access · greenAbstract readObservational Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
0.4field-weighted citation impact, top 40% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 2 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Sadia ShakoorDepartments of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Pediatrics, and Medicine, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Tazeen FatimaDepartments of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Pediatrics, and Medicine, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Fatima MirDepartments of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Pediatrics, and Medicine, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Asima ShahidDepartments of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Pediatrics, and Medicine, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Najma ShaheenDepartments of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Pediatrics, and Medicine, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Erum KhanDepartments of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Pediatrics, and Medicine, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Bushra JamilDepartments of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Pediatrics, and Medicine, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Aga Khan University · PK

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Meningoencephalitis (ME) is potentially fatal and is caused by a wide array of pathogens. Diagnostic and health-care access gaps prevent accurate estimation of the pathogen-specific burden in low-resource settings. We present pathogen-specific etiologies among patients hospitalized with ME in Karachi, Pakistan. We performed a retrospective hospital database evaluation of pathogen etiology and outcomes of community-acquired infectious ME at a single tertiary care center in Karachi, Pakistan. Annual rates of hospitalization (ARH) were calculated by adjusting for missed cases and are reported per 100,000 population. From May 2017 to April 2020, 522 episodes of infectious ME were identified in 514 patients. The overall ARH from ME was 5.7/100,000 population (95% CI, 5.1-6.1). Among children younger than 5 years, the ARH was 9.8/100,000 population (95% CI, 8.1-11.8). Unknown causes of ME resulted in the greatest burden, with an ARH of 1.9/100,000 population (95% CI, 1.7-2.2). Among known causes, the greatest burden of hospitalizations resulted from tuberculous ME (0.8/100,000; 95% CI, 0.6-0.97), followed by pneumococcal and enteroviral ME (both 0.6/100,000 population; 95% CI, 0.5-0.8). The burden of ME caused by pathogens preventable through vaccination or public health measures outweighed that of ME from other causes (P = 0.0092, Fisher's exact test). We report a broad range of pathogens causing ME in southern Pakistan and show a high burden of preventable illness. Synergistic actions to improve diagnostic strategies, increase vaccinations, and introduce measures to reduce water-borne and vector-borne diseases are required to reduce the ME burden in Pakistan and prevent future outbreaks.

Indexed as

MeningitisMeningoencephalitisChildHumansPakistanRetrospective StudiesTertiary Care Centers

Identifiers

PMID37460090
PMCPMC10397433
OpenAlexW4384560873

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.