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Introduction: Acute meningitis is a major cause of death and disability worldwide. Differentiating bacterial from nonbacterial meningitis is very important in deciding on treatment. Bacterial meningitis is a life-threatening neurological condition and needs prompt parenteral antibiotics, compared to viral and aseptic meningitis which carries relatively better outcomes. Aim of the study: The aim of the study was to identify the importance of the CSF-CRP test in diagnosing acute bacterial meningitis. Methods: This cross-sectional observational study was conducted at the Department of Pediatric Medicine, Dhaka Shishu Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh. The study duration was 6 months, from January 2017 to June 2017. A total of 100 children visiting the inpatient department of the hospital were selected for the present study following inclusion and exclusion criteria. Result: 57% were diagnosed as bacterial meningitis cases, while 43% were diagnosed with aseptic meningitis. Among the 57 cases of bacterial meningitis, 61.40% belonged to the youngest age group of 0-2 years, while among the aseptic meningitis cases, 37.21% belonged to the age group of 3-6 years. Total WBC and PBN were significantly higher among the bacterial meningitis cases. The sensitivity of CSF-CRP was 89.47%, specificity 90.69%, accuracy 90%, a positive predictive value of 92.72%, and a negative predictive value of 86.66% in diagnosing bacterial meningitis. Conclusion: The study findings conclude CSF-CRP to be an important prognostic factor and initial testing method in diagnosing acute bacterial meningitis. CSF CRP has high diagnostic accuracy in determining the incidence of acute bacterial meningitis.

Background: Acute meningitis is a major cause of death, and disability worldwide. Differentiating bacterial from nonbacterial meningitis is very important in deciding on treatment. Bacterial meningitis is a life-threatening neurological condition, and needs prompt parenteral antibiotics, compared to viral, and aseptic meningitis which carries relatively better outcomes. Objective: To identify the importance of Cerebrospinal fluid C- reactive protein (CSF-CRP) to establish the diagnosis of ABM. Method: This study was conducted from 01 January 2017 to 30th June 2017 at the indoor department of Pediatric Medicine at Bangladesh Sishu Hospital & Institute (BSH & I) to the measure of CSF C-Reactive protein for the differentiation of bacterial meningitis from aseptic meningitis in children. One hundred patients had participated after meeting the inclusion, and exclusion criteria. Patients were selected by purposive sampling. Ethical clearance was obtained from the National Health Research Ethics Committee, BangladeshShishu Hospital& Institute, Dhaka. Results: Out of 57 cases of bacterial meningitis, 22 cases were culture-negative, and 35 cases were culture-positive. 22 cases (62.85%) out of 35 cases culture positive were Streptococcus Pneumoniae followed by 08 cases (22.85%) were Neisseria Meningitis, Haemophilus Influenza 3 cases (8.57%), E.coli were 02 cases (5.71%). WBC count & PMN (%) were increased significantly in bacterial meningitis, compared to aseptic meningitis. Protein and glucose levels in CSF were not significantly different between bacterial meningitis, and the aseptic meningitis group (Table 2). In the case of bacterial meningitis, in 51(89.47%) cases out of 57, the CSF CRP test was truly positive, mean±SD 21.7±10.9, and false negative were only 6 cases (10.52%). In aseptic meningitis 39 cases (90.69%) out of 43 cases, the CSF-CRP test was truly negative, and false positives were 04 cases (9.30%). (Table-4) shows outcome in the meningitis group showed .....