Abstract
Infections of the central nervous system are roughly divided into meningitis and encephalitis. The initial treatment for such diseases considerably affects the patient’s outcome; hence, rapid and correct diagnosis is crucial. We simultaneously used multiplex polymerase chain reaction (M-PCR) and PCR-Lateral Flow (PCR-LF) analyses for the screening examination and clinically evaluated eight bacterial species, namely, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenza, Neisseria meningitides, Listeria monocytogenes, Group B Streptococci, Staphylococcus aureus (SA), coagulase-negative staphylococci species (CoagNS), and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and seven viruses, namely, varicella-zoster viruses, herpes simplex virus (HSV)-1, HSV-2, Epstein-Barr virus, cytomegalovirus, human herpes virus-6, and enterovirus collected from patients’ cerebrospinal fluids. In total, 14 (11.4%) and 23 (18.7%) samples of causative bacteria and viruses, respectively, were detected in 123 samples of cerebrospinal fluid. However, there is a possibility of false-positive results as five SA and CoagNS were detected although the samples were culture-negative for these species. Hence, the results need to be carefully interpreted. M-PCR and PCR-LF analyses did not require dedicated PCR devices, had detection rates that were higher than those of other analytical methods, and yielded results within a short span of time. Therefore, M-PCR and PCR-LF analyses may be effective for the quick diagnosis of central nervous system infections.
