%0 Journal Article %T Do corticosteroids improve outcome in meningitis? %D 2010 %R 10.1136/dtb.2010.10.0050 %J Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin %P 116-120 %V 48 %N 10 %X Relevant BNF section: BNF 5.1, 6.3.2 Despite significant advances in prevention of meningitis through vaccination, and in improved antimicrobial treatment, the disease still kills around 340,000 people worldwide each year.1 Around 75% of these deaths occur in Africa and South East Asia and around 3% in Europe.1 The mortality rate for bacterial meningitis is 10–30% and sequelae, such as cranial nerve impairment, particularly leading to hearing loss, occur in 5–40% of patients.2 Whether adjunctive corticosteroid treatment improves the outcome in bacterial meningitis through an anti-inflammatory effect has been a long-standing controversy. Here we review the role of adjunctive corticosteroids in the management of children (aged over 1 month) and adults with bacterial or tuberculous meningitis. %U https://dtb.bmj.com/content/dtb/48/10/116.full.pdf