EARLY ETHIOLOGICAL DIAGNOSIS OF BACTERIAL MENINGITES WITH THE LATEX AGLUTINATION TEST

The Wellcogen latex agglutination test was applied to 44 patients who were hospitalized in the Department of Pediatric Health and Diseases for meningitis, and the results were compared with the cerebrospinal fluid culture results. When latex agglutination and culture were used together, it gave a higher rate than culture alone. However, when the culture results were compared with latex agglutination, no statistical difference was found between the results, as in the literature. It was thought that the absence of group B N. meningitidis kit among the kits we used was responsible for this result and latex agglutination test would yield more significant results than culture in places where antibiotics were used indiscriminately, such as in our country.