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Query: UMLS:C0085437 (bacterial meningitis)
 4,038 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Bacterial meningitis is characterized by inflammation of the meninges covering the brain. It is a life-threatening illness, if untreated. The aim of this study was to examine whether blood tests including C-reactive protein (CRP) and full blood count (FBC) predict bacterial meningitis in children. We also examined the relationship between cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) tests including gram stain, culture and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and blood tests such as culture and PCR results. We studied 11 patients admitted with bacterial meningitis in the Paediatric wards, National Children's Hospital, Dublin, Northern Ireland (2012-2016). The mean age was 10.7 (SD, 14.7) months. In this group of patients, 5 (45.5%) had leucocytosis, 7 (63.6%) experienced neutrophilia and 1 (9.1%) had both leukopenia and neutropenia. C-reactive protein (CRP) value of less than 1 mg/L was found in 2 patients (18.2%). No link was found between CSF gram stain and CSF culture (p value 0.66) or CSF PCR results (p value 0.75). Meningitis should be investigated and treated if clinically suspected, regardless of CRP values or peripheral blood results.
Sudan J Paediatr 2016
PMID:Blood tests are not always helpful in predicting bacterial meningitis in children. 2809 62

A novel coronavirus was first identified in late 2019 to cause an outbreak of acute respiratory illness in Wuhan city in China. The disease was designated COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) by the World Health Organization (WHO) in February 2020. Worldwide, the infection spread affecting more than 3 million confirmed cases, mainly in Europe and USA, and was characterised by the WHO as a pandemic in March 2020. During 1985-1990, a similar pandemic wave of meningococcal (MC) meningitis spread over vast territories in Asia (including Saudi Arabia) and Africa (including Sudan and Ethiopia with more than 70,000 cases). The Sudanese Journal of Paediatrics (SJP) is taking the opportunity to document the history of this pandemic in Sudan, which has been successfully managed within Sudan/Sweden scientific link program involving the University of Khartoum, Sudan and Uppsala University, Sweden. This joint research project evaluated a rapid antigen test for the diagnosis of acute bacterial meningitis which later proved to be adaptable to the field situation during the 1988 MC epidemic. It also constituted one of the pioneering works in molecular epidemiology and proved to be vital in controlling epidemic meningitis worldwide. Based on this and other bacteriologic and epidemiologic data, a new conjugate vaccine was later developed which put an end to Group A meningococcal epidemics. Lessons learnt from this pandemic, which also applied in case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), are also highlighted.
Sudan J Paediatr 2020
PMID:COVID-19 and lessons learned from the pandemic wave of meningococcal meningitis (1985-1990). 3252 6