Title : Performance and importance of a meningitis diagnostic unit, shared management, in a unitary unit, in Belém/Pará/Brazil
Abstract:
Introduction: Meningitis continues representing a threat to public health globally, despite successful efforts to control disease around the world. It is a matter of medical emergency. Bacterial meningitis causes serious, usually acute, and potentially lethal symptoms. Rapid confirmation of the diagnosis, optimal and timely antimicrobial treatment, and the establishment of appropriate control and prevention measures permits reduce complications, improve prognosis, and reduce morbidity and mortality from the disease.
Goal: To report on the experience of managing a unit dedicated exclusively to the diagnosis of meningitis, highlighting its importance in controlling the disease in the Amazon region.
Description of the experience: It is a matter of a descriptive study, in the form of an experience report by three managers of a Meningitis Diagnosis Unit (UDM) at a university hospital. The living environment was inaugurated in 2011—a partnership (STATE/FEDERAL) and is presented as an important strategy for rapid diagnosis and adequate and immediate treatment of a serious, incapacitating, and fatal disease. For 14 years, we have accompanied and experienced the process of implementing, organizing, and managing a 24- hour institutional annex, composed of a multidisciplinary team that receives an average of 150 patients per month referred to health units, emergency care units, hospitals, etc. with signs and symptoms suggesting meningitis. At the unit, rapid reception, compulsory and immediate notification, medical and multidisciplinary assessment, lumbar puncture (in indicated cases), initiation of treatment in positive cases, complementary tests, transfers to specific hospitalization units, communication for surveillance and chemoprophylaxis of contacts, among others. Shared management brings together the human resources of permanent state employees within the complete physical and hospital structure of a university hospital, which has four respiratory isolation units, an observation room, a room exclusively for lumbar punctures, and laboratory facilities that allow cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis within a few hours.
Final thoughts: The management and experience in a shared hospital unit require effort, dedication, and empathy on a daily basis. In more than a decade, the unit has established itself as a reference and has proven to be relevant in the fight against meningitis in the Amazon region, receiving patients from all municipalities in the state of Pará. in addition to serving as a teaching practice for academics, residents, and university students. Challenges and difficulties were present during the management period, but they are the daily motivation in the search for partnerships; knowledge and continuous improvement; respect and appreciation for the entire team; in order to provide rapid, high-quality care to individuals and support to their families, thereby reducing morbidity and mortality from meningitis in the state. Undoubtedly, the actions carried out in the management spheres and the broad participation of other partners, such as scientific societies and non- governmental organizations, are fundamental to strengthening strategies for the prevention and control of meningitis in the Amazon and worldwide.
Keywords: Meningitis. Shared management. Amazon.
