Abstract

Bacterial meningitis is still considered serious life-threatening disease in spite of the decline in the morbidity and mortality in the last decade. The expeditious diagnosis of the disease, a prompt empiric antibiotic treatment and the proper adjunctive therapy are corner stones for the successful management of the disease. The objective of this review is to provide the health care professionals with an update of reference for bacterial meningitis diagnosis and treatment. In addition, the various types of vaccines and the empiric chemoprophylaxis treatment are reviewed.

Key words: Neisseria meningitides, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) examination, polymerase chain reaction, chemoprophylaxis.