The diagnosis of meningococcal disease by culture. Some points of practical importance.

Meningococcal disease has been a serious problem in Norway for nearly a decade. A nation-wide study of this disease revealed that almost 40% of all cases in clinical practice remained without a microbiological diagnosis. In the hope that this situation can be improved, a brief review is given of information available in the literature concerning collection and handling of microbiological specimens from patients with possible systemic meningococcal disease.