common cause and cerebrospinal fluid changes of acute bacterial meningitis

background and objective: bacterial meningitis is an important cause of mortality and long-term neural morbidity. immediate diagnosis and treatment are necessary in appropriate time. this study was designed in afzalipour hospital in kerman to evaluate meningitis causes, frequency and csf laboratory changes. patients and methods: in this retrograde descriptive study from september 2003 to september 2005, documents of all the hospitalized patients with diagnosed meningitis in afzalipour hospital of kerman, southeast of iran were studied. findings: during this period, 126 patients were hospitalized . the age average was 15.2 ± 5.2 yr. males were more than females (69% vs 31%) & 64% were children.majority of patients were admitted in winter (42.9%) followed by spring (31%) . 9.5% had viral meningitis . 89.5% of patients with bacterial meningitis had negative csf culture . positive culture included 6 cases of haemophilus influenzae type b , 3 cases of pneumococcal and 3 cases of meningococcal. average level of glucose in csf in positive culture group was less than negative culture group (22.5mg/dl vs 53.5mg/dl) . all positive culture patients had pro>100mg/dl and wbc>1000/mm3. conclusion: 10.5% of patients had positive culture, which might suggest that there were some errors in microbial cultures done in this hospital.  more prevalence of meningitis in children was similar to other studies. the most common cause was haemophilus influenzae , so iranian children vaccination should be considered.