Key result
A positive enteroviral CSF PCR result in infants and children correlated with reduced admission to a high dependency unit, shorter duration of antibiotics, and shorter length of stay (P < .05).
Why the study?
Enteroviral meningitis in infants and children commonly leads to hospital admission, and diagnosing viral meningitis can be clinically difficult.
Does a positive enteroviral CSF PCR test correlate with improved clinical management outcomes in infants and children with suspected viral meningitis?
Observational (n=136)
Does a positive enteroviral CSF PCR test correlate with improved clinical management outcomes in infants and children with suspected viral meningitis?
p-value: p=<.05
Positive enteroviral CSF PCR testing in infants and children is associated with reduced high dependency unit admissions, shorter antibiotic duration, and decreased length of stay.
May support de-escalation in pediatric CNS infections; leaves open need for prospective validation.
Enteroviral meningitis in infants and children commonly leads to hospital admission. Diagnosing viral meningitis can be difficult clinically. We examined the usefulness of enteroviral polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing using cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples on clinical practice by comparing positive enteroviral CSF PCR cases (n = 39/136) to negative controls using both clinical outcomes and laboratory parameters. A positive result correlated with a reduced admission to high dependency unit, reduced the duration of antibiotics and a shorter length of stay (P < .05). Adjusted CSF white cell count > 5/μL correlated with positive PCR (P < .05) but would have missed 32% of cases of enteroviral meningitis. Following these findings, an algorithm for the management of suspected viral meningitis has been introduced.
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Turner et al. (2019) conducted an observational in Suspected viral meningitis (n=136). Positive enteroviral CSF PCR vs. Negative enteroviral CSF PCR was evaluated on Clinical outcomes including admission to high dependency unit, duration of antibiotics, and length of stay (p=<.05). A positive enteroviral CSF PCR result in infants and children correlated with reduced admission to a high dependency unit, shorter duration of antibiotics, and shorter length of stay (P < .05).
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