Abstract
Although bacterial meningitis remains an important cause of childhood morbidity and mortality, the incidence of bacterial meningitis has greatly decreased with the advent of polysaccharide-protein conjugate vaccines in the past 2 decades. Most children with cerebrospinal fluid pleocytosis have aseptic rather than bacterial meningitis, raising the possibility that some patients may be managed as outpatients. In this article, we review the changing epidemiology of bacterial meningitis as well as the available clinical decision rules that may assist the clinician in distinguishing aseptic from bacterial meningitis in patients with cerebrospinal fluid pleocytosis.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 112-120 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Pediatric Emergency Care |
Volume | 25 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 2009 |
Keywords
- Aseptic meningitis
- Bacterial meningitis
- CSF pleocytosis
- Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine
- Prediction model
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Pediatrics, Perinatology, and Child Health
- Emergency Medicine