Consensus report: Antimicrobial therapy for bacterial meningitis in infants and children

The purpose of this report is to review the evidence for efficacy of the new cephalosporin compounds and to provide a basis for determining the most appropriate initial empiric regimen for treating bacterial meningitis in infants and children. In a departure from our usual consensus format in which we summarize the experts' opinions of a controversial subject and add our interpretations and thoughts, we decided in this analysis to reverse the process and allow the experts to have the final word on our recommendations. We hope this report is useful in formulating a treatment regimen that is suitable to physicians who manage patients with bacterial meningitis.