Bacteriological study of pyogenic meningitis with special reference to latex agglutination

Bacterial meningitis is an important and frequent devastating disease. The present study was carried out to determine the prevalence of pyogenic meningitis in our hospital in children and to find out the sensitivity of Gram stain, CRP and latex agglutination tests for the diagnosis of pyogenic meningitis from CSF sample. Out of 150 CSF samples studied, 40 were diagnosed as pyogenic meningitis. H. influenzae was the commonest organism (22.5%), followed by Streptococcus pneumoniae 15%, Staphylococcus aureus--10%, Acinetobacter species and coagulase negative Stapylococci 7.5% each, E-coli 5%, and a case each of Klebsiella species, Group B streptococci, Proteus, Pseudomonas and Enterococci. The sensitivity of Gram stain and Latex agglutination test was 90% and that of CRP test was 62.5%. As most of the cases included in our study were treated earlier, the culture positivity was only 62.5%. Hence, Gram stain and/or latex agglutination tests, if done properly are most rapid and reliable tests for the diagnosis of pyogenic meningitis.