Bacterial meningitis (BM) is an acute infectious central nervous system (CNS) disease worldwide, occurring with 50% of the survivors left with a long-term serious sequela. Acute bacterial meningitis is more prevalent in resource-poor than resource-rich areas. The pathogenesis of BM involves complex mechanisms that are related to bacterial survival and multiplication in the bloodstream, increased permeability of blood–brain barrier (BBB), oxidative stress, and excessive inflammatory response in CNS.
Differential diagnosis between bacterial and viral meningitis is crucial. In our study, to differentiate bacterial vs. viral meningitis, three machine learning (ML) algorithms (multiple logistic regression (MLR), random forest (RF), and naïve-Bayes (NB)) were applied for the two age groups (0–14 and >14 years) of patients with meningitis by both conventional (culture) and molecular (PCR) methods.
In 2017, the World Health Organization (WHO) published its first list of antibiotic-resistant “priority pathogens,” which is a catalogue of 12 families of bacteria that WHO feels pose the greatest threat to human health. The list, intended to help drive research and development (R&D) of new antibiotics, highlights the threat of gram-negative bacteria that are resistant to multiple antibiotics. These bacteria have built-in abilities to find new ways to resist treatment and can pass along genetic material that allows other bacteria to become drug resistant as well.
Meningococcal meningitis is rare—but when this bacterial infection does strike, it’s potentially deadly. Even when caught early and properly treated, 10 to 15 percent of those who get the infection will die from it. As for those who survive, it’s estimated that 19% suffer permanent disabilities, such as brain damage, hearing loss, loss of kidney function, or limb amputations. One might think that these facts alone are enough to encourage all healthcare providers and parents to push for every pediatric patient’s first and second meningococcal vaccine booster shot.
Despite breakthroughs in treatments and vaccinations, bacterial meningitis remains a serious threat, responsible for 200,000 deaths annually and holding the dubious honor of placing sixth among the world’s deadliest infectious disease killers.1,2 So it was significant news when a recent study, published in the journal PLoS Pathogens, identified two meningitis-causing bacteria that can dodge the immune system’s natural fever response to infection.