Brain Infections Global have successfully developed and implemented an intervention that improved the diagnosis and management of brain infections such as meningitis in hospitals across Brazil, India and Malawi.
Acute brain infections are a major global health challenge with diagnostic challenges followed by incorrect treatments leading to poor treatment outcomes.
In a study published in The Lancet, Brain Infections Global shared results of an intervention package to improve diagnosis and early management of hospitalised patients with suspected acute brain infections. The study highlights the group’s effective mixed-methods approach to improving diagnostics and ensuring more patients receive the right care. This included working with policymakers from the start.
In its editorial, The Lancet says this is the first study to report the positive effect of an intervention package for CNS infection that is generalisable across low and middle-income countries.
“The authors present evidence of the benefits of designing simple clinical algorithms for providing decision support for diagnosis and management of patients with possible acute brain infection,” it says.
“The coprimary outcomes—the percentage of patients achieving a syndromic diagnosis and the percentage achieving a microbiological diagnosis before and after the intervention—both improved significantly.
“The total percentage of patients receiving a syndromic diagnosis increased significantly from 77% before the intervention to 86% after the intervention, with an adjusted odds ratio of 1·81.
“This supports the WHO recommendation formulated during the 72nd World Health Assembly in May, 2019 of establishing standardised written clinical tools for improving emergency care, particularly in settings with fewer resources.”
Professor Tom Solomon shared in a post on X, “What’s really exciting is that the intervention is already feeding into national practice guidelines and WHO meningitis and encephalitis initiatives, to be scaled up globally.”
Brain Infections Global are focused on improving the management of acute brain infections, working with leading research institutes in the UK, Malawi, India and Brazil.
The Global Health Network is proud to partner with Brain Infections Global, an NIHR Global Health Research Group on Improving the Management of Acute Brain Infections, by enabling knowledge sharing and collaboration that drives equity in who takes part and who benefits from health research. This is driving equity in where research happens, who leads and who benefits.
Read the article on The Lancet: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)00263-6/fulltext
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