*Correspondence: soaresadria16@gmail.com.
Abstract
Background: Meningitis is a disease that can cause neural involvement due to inflammation of
the meninges and infection of the central nervous system. The infection can affect
the nerves, nerve cells, and brain structures, leading to a range of neurological
symptoms. The age group in which meningitis is most common in children is in the early
years of life, especially in infants under 1 year of age.
Objective: To analyze the epidemiological profile of pediatric patients hospitalized with meningitis
between the years 2012 to 2022.
Methods: This is an epidemiological, retrospective, quantitative study, in which data were
obtained from the Department of Informatics of the Unified Health System (DATASUS).
The analysis comprised the number of cases reported in Pará from 2012 to 2022. The
main variables analyzed were sex, skin color, age (0-19), health region, hospitalization
regimen, and type of clinical outcome. For data analysis, descriptive statistics were
used through absolute and relative frequencies.
Results: In the time cut from 2012 to 2022, in the state of Pará, there were 1174 hospitalizations
for meningitis in pediatric patients, with an increase from 49 in 2012 to 224 in 2022.
The health region (CIR) with the highest density of occurrences was Metropolitan I
(56.9%). The patients were mostly male (57%), mixed race (67.5%), under 1 year old
(22.2%) and admitted to the public hospital network (19.3%, however, 79.5% were considered
"unaware"). Regarding the type of outcome, 17.2% evolved to death.
Conclusion: This analysis allowed the identification of the epidemiological profile of pediatric
patients hospitalized with meningitis in the period from 2012 to 2022 in Pará. We
observed a significant increase in the number of hospitalizations in the analyzed
period. In addition, the percentage of deaths is significant, requiring more public
policies aimed at prevention, such as immunization.
