Relation of concentrations of Haemophilus influenzae type b in cerebrospinal fluid to late sequelae of patients with meningitis.

Forty-four patients with Haemophilus influenzae type b meningitis had follow-up evaluations approximately one year after hospital discharge. Patients with greater than or equal to 10(7) colony-forming units of H. influenzae type b per milliliters CSF had significantly greater frequencies of speech impairment (P less than 0.001), hearing loss (P = 0.04), and moderate or severe neurologic sequelae (P less than 0.01). Patients with greater than or equal to 1 microgram H. influenzae b antigen/ml CSF had a greater incidence of hearing loss (P = 0.03) but not of speech abnormalities (P = 0.06) or other neurologic sequelae (P = 0.64). Glucose concentrations less than 10 mg/dl correlated with the incidence of hearing loss (P = 0.02) and speech impairment (P = 0.02). "Partial" antibiotic therapy, CSF protein concentrations, and number of CSF polymorphonuclear leukocytes did not correlate well with sequelae. These data indicate that pretreatment concentrations of H. influenzae b and glucose concentrations in CSF were the best predictors of late sequelae of patients with H. influenzae b meningitis.