[Right and wrong ways to treat meningitis (author's transl)]

A brief survey of the last 200 years of diagnosing and treating meningitis is followed by a critical analysis and comparison of therapeutic results since the introduction of effective chemotherapy 44 years ago. This reveals nearly as good results during the early years as compared to nowadays. Modern age and pathogen dependent therapeutic regimes are discussed and valued. New ways of therapy are not yet generally necessary for the common causes of bacterial meningitis in childhood. The increasing resistance of some strains of H. influenzae or pneumococci, however, will necessitate the development of new antibiotics. Own experience and results in treating 76 patients with purulent meningitis are reported and compared with the literature, where pathogen or therapy dependent mortality is welldocumented but detailed data on follow-up studies are sporse.