Abstract
Introduction:: Tuberculous meningitis remains a major health issue in the community affecting young adults of both genders predominantly from rural background. In India, the disease continues to kill 2 people every 3 min or nearly 1000 daily, according to the Tuberculosis Control Society India. Tuberculosis (TB) of central nervous system (CNS) is the most devastating form of TB. As this disease is associated with very high prevalence in young adults and will ultimately contribute to great workforce loss, we decided to assess the factors deciding the disease and its course in our patients. Patients and Methods:: Seronegative patients with probable CNS TB and attending our outpatient department were included and followed up for 2 years. Results:: Low body mass index, low proteins, albumin, and low CD3 and CD4, pulmonary TB appears to be a common denominator in a vast majority of these patients. Delay in diagnosis and hyponatremia contributes to morbidity. The location of exudates causes morbidity when they are seen in optochiasmal region. Bacille CalmetteGuerin (BCG) vaccination status in the community appears to be very small. Conclusion:: CNS TB causes considerable morbidity and mortality in rural young adults resulting in severe manpower loss. Awareness into the possible role of BCG in reducing the complications of TB, role of nutrition and immunity even in seronegative patients and high-degree suspicion in medical professionals can bring down the burden of this deadly disease in the society.
Copyright
Association for Helping Neurosurgical Sick People. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Derivative-Non Commercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit.
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This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives License, which permits unrestricted reproduction and distribution, for non-commercial purposes only; and use and reproduction, but not distribution, of adapted material for non-commercial purposes only, provided the original work is properly cited.
