Comparison of culture and latex agglutination in the diagnosis of bacterial meningitis.

This preliminary study compared culture and latex agglutination in the diagnosis of bacterial meningitis. Only 23.08 per cent of meningitis patients were bacterial meningitis by culture. The causative organisms detected by culture and latex agglutination respectively were as follows: Streptococcus pneumoniae 7.69, 5.77 per cent: Haemophilus influenzae 1.92, 1.92 per cent: Neisseria meningitidis 1.92, 5.77 per cent: Salmonella species 5.77 per cent, -: Viridans streptococci 1.92 per cent, - and Nonfermentative gram-negative rod 3.85 per cent -. There was no latex reagent for the latter three organisms.