Abstract
Bacterial meningitis is a leading cause of illness and death worldwide. It is crucial for clinical and public health care, as well as disease control, to identify the meningitis-causing agent promptly. Between June 2021-February 2022, a total of 100 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood samples were collected from suspected cases of meningitis admitted to Raparin Paediatric Teaching Hospital, Erbil city-Iraq. Cytochemical, cultural, and biochemical tests were conducted, and confirmed by molecular techniques. Bacterial culture findings were positive in 7% of CSF samples and just one positive among blood samples. The most common pathogens found by cultural characteristics and VITEK 2 Compact System were Staphylococcus sciuri in two cases 2%, Staphylococcus xylosus in one case 1%, Escherichia coli in two instances 2%, Enterococcus casseliflavus and Micrococcus luteus each in one case 1%. Staphylococcus sciuri, Staphylococcus xylosus, Enterococcus casseliflavus and Micrococcus luteus were first recorded as bacterial meningitis in Erbil/Iraq. All isolates were confirmed by PCR assay. All clinical isolates were screened for some antimicrobial sensitivity, meropenem and tobramycin have been shown to be totally resistant 100% to all isolated bacteria, furthermore, isolated E coli showed highly resistant 100 to cefotaxime, gentamycin, pencillin, ceftriaxone, rifampin, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, ceftazidime, erythromycin, ampicillin, and clindamycin, while they were sensitive (100%) to amikacin and imipenem as well as all the gram positive bacteria were resistant 100% to optochin and sensitive (100%) to gentamycin, and trimethoprim. In bacterial meningitis patients, high C-reactive protein (CRP) >6 mg/dl, high CSF protein >50 mg/dl, low CSF glucose level <40 mg/dl and high leukocyte count >100 cells/mm3 were all substantially diagnostic.
Keywords
Bacterial Meningitis, Blood Specimen, Cerebrospinal Fluid, Cultural characteristics, PCR
Article Type
Article
How to Cite this Article
Hamaameen, Niga Othman and Khider, Adel Kamal
(2024)
"Traditional and molecular methods for diagnosing bacterial meningitis in Erbil city, Iraq,"
Baghdad Science Journal: Vol. 21:
Iss.
2, Article 10.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21123/bsj.2023.7789