Rinsho Shinkeigaku (Clinical Neurology)

Symposium 3

Rapid identification of meningitis due to bacterial pathogens

Kimiko Ubukata, Ph.D.1)

1)Department of Infectious Diseases, Keio University School of Medicine

We constructed a new real-time PCR method to detect causative pathogens in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from patient due to bacterial meningitis. The eight pathogens targeted in the PCR are Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, Streptococcus agalactiae, Staphylococcus aurues, Neisseria meningitides, Listeria monocytogenes, Esherichia coli, and Mycoplasma pneumoniae. The total time from DNA extraction from CSF to PCR analysis was 1.5 hour. The pathogens were detected in 72% of the CSF samples (n=115) by real-time PCR, but in only 48% by culture, although the microorganisms were completely concordant. The detection rate of pathogens with PCR was significantly better than that with cultures in patients with antibiotic administration. In conclusion, detection with real-time PCR is useful for rapidly identifying the causative pathogens of meningitis and for examining the clinical course of chemotherapy.
Full Text of this Article in Japanese PDF (1130K)

(CLINICA NEUROL, 53: 1184|1186, 2013)
key words: bacterial meningitis, rapid diagnosis, real-time PCR

(Received: 31-May-13)