[Hearing damage following meningitis then and now].

Audiometric examination of children who have suffered a bacterial meningitis show that in about a quarter of them a moderate to severe, often unilateral, hearing loss is to be expected despite antibiotic treatment. Hearing loss is more frequent in cases of severe meningitis and appears to depend upon the time of treatment. The most feared infection is that due to Hemophilus influenzae. No hearing damage was encountered in meningitis due to virus, in confirmed mumps infection or when the CSF was free of bacteria.