Bacterial versus viral meningitis: comparison of the old and the new clinical prediction models

Molecular investigations of viral meningitis among HIV-infected adults in Accra, Ghana

“…Viral meningitis is a central nervous system (CNS) related condition which is self-limiting but associated with high rate of morbidity among immunocompromised populations [ 1 , 2 ]. In general, meningitis as a condition has been associated with several aetiologies such as bacteria, parasites, fungi or viruses [ 3 – 5 ]. Different viral agents have been implicated as aetiologies of viral meningitis with the prevalence recorded in several studies [ 6 – 9 ].…”

“…The possibility of a viral aetiology of meningitis usually arises once bacterial and fungal stains or cultures of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) are negative. Amidst the myriad of illnesses presented by a patient with meningitis, it is documented that viral meningitis is often associated with lymphocytic pleocytosis, normal glucose and elevated protein [ 3 , 16 , 17 ]. Based on clinical presentations alone, the different causes of meningitis may not be clearly known which makes the proper management and treatment of the patients difficult.…”

Value of Cerebrospinal Fluid Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha (Tnf-Alpha) for Rapid Diagnosis of Bacterial Meningitis

“…Therefore, the discrimination of cases of bacterial meningitis from other causes by clinical feature alone is often impossible (Thwaites et al, 2005). The presently used techniques have some limitations to diagnose or differentiate bacterial from viral meningitis (Tokuda, 2000). The CSF gram stain can be negative and misleading because of small number of organisms present in CSF or antibiotic therapy has been started, also, culture often require a delay of a day or more for growth and may be negative in partially treated cases (Abro et al, 2009).…”