Lactate deyhydrogenase intracellular tetramer protein, expressed as five isoenzymes having different distribution in various tissues [2,3]. It is an important indicator of bacterial meningitis [4,5] and it help to differentiate bacterial from non bacterial meningitis [6,7]. Viral meningitis is usually associated with normal or mildly elevated LDH levels, while bacterial meningitis is usually as...

BACKGROUND African children have some of the highest rates of bacterial meningitis in the world. Bacterial meningitis in Africa is associated with high case fatality and frequent neuropsychological sequelae. The objective of this study is to present a comprehensive review of data on bacterial meningitis sequelae in children from the African continent. METHODS We conducted a systematic literat...

The purpose of the present study was to compare the incidence of childhood meningitis in regions with fewer than 2,000 inhabitants (rural regions) and regions with more than 2,000 inhabitants (urban regions) in the prefecture of Achaia in Western Greece during 1991-2005. Included were all 555 children hospitalized for meningitis. The criteria for bacterial meningitis were (i) positive blood/cer...

OBJECTIVE Acute bacterial meningitis in pediatrics remains a serious and potentially lethal disease. Its prognosis is critically dependent on rapid diagnosis and treatment. The use of biological markers, like procalcitonin, has been proposed to facilitate the accuracy of the initial diagnosis of bacterial meningitis. The aim of this study was assessment the diagnostic values of serum procalcito...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE We investigated the potential role of serum procalcitonin in differentiating tuberculosis meningitis from bacterial and viral meningitis, and in predicting the prognosis of tuberculosis meningitis. METHODS This was a retrospective study of 26 patients with tuberculosis meningitis. In addition, 70 patients with bacterial meningitis and 49 patients with viral meningitis w...

A girl presented with purulent meningitis at ages 6, 8, and 11 years. She was in good health between these three episodes. When aged 16 one of her brothers also experienced an attack of pneumococcal meningitis. Complement studies showed lack of C2 in the patient and the brother, and intermediate values in the mother and a sister. No other member of the family was available for study.

Children with cerebrospinal fluid pleocytosis are frequently treated with parenteral antibiotics, but only a few have bacterial meningitis. Although some clinical prediction rules, such as bacterial meningitis score, are of well-known value, the cerebrospinal fluid white blood cells count can be the initial available information. Our aim was to establish a cutoff point of cerebrospinal fluid wh...

There are many difficulties distinguishing bacterial from viral meningitis that could be reasonably solved using biomarkers. The aim of this study was to evaluate lactate, procalcitonin (PCT), ferritin, serum-CRP (C-reactive protein), and other known biomarkers in differentiating bacterial meningitis from viral meningitis in children.All children aged 28 days to 14 years with suspected meningit...