Cephalosporins in childhood bacterial meningitis.

Bacterial meningitis remains one of the most common life threatening infections of childhood. There exists a conventional therapy for this disease. However, with the increasing incidence of Haemophilus strains resistant to ampicillin and chloramphenicol and Streptococcus pneumonia strains relatively resistant to penicillin, alteration of current therapeutic regimens for meningitis may become necessary. Cephalosporins were considered as alternatives to the conventional therapy for the treatment of bacterial meningitis during the past decade. However, there are still some discrepancies on the use of these against some organisms despite the advent of the cephalosporins. Thus, a review article analyzing quite a number of reliable clinical trials related to cephalosporins for the treatment of bacterial meningitis during the past decade to date is introduced.