Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41286718›Full record

ArticleBMC infectious diseases2025

Pathogen profiles in CSF from patients with acute infectious meningitis or encephalitis: a multicenter study based on multiplex PCR and mNGS in China, 2018-2019.

Changcheng Wu, Xinlei Sun, Wei Zhang, Yang Yang, Peihua Niu, Jing Chen, Xuejie Zhang, Roujian Lu, Wenling Wang, Zhihai Chen and 1 more

Abstract readClinical StudyMulticenter Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC infectious diseases, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Frontiers in medicine · 2026
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Changcheng Wu *National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, 102206, China.
Xinlei Sun *National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, 102206, China.
Wei Zhang *Beijing Ditan Hospital Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100102, China.
Yang YangThe Third People's Hospital of Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518112, China.
Peihua NiuNational Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, 102206, China.
Jing ChenSchool of Laboratory Medicine and Life Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, 325035, China.
Xuejie ZhangNational Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, 102206, China.
Roujian LuNational Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, 102206, China.
Wenling WangNational Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, 102206, China. wangwl@ivdc.chinacdc.cn.
Zhihai Chen *Beijing Ditan Hospital Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100102, China. chenzhihai0001@126.com.
Wenjie TanNational Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, 102206, China. tanwj@ivdc.chinacdc.cn.

Funding

the National Key Research and Development Program of China 2022YFC2303401
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Acute meningitis or encephalitis (AME) is mainly caused by viral and bacterial infections, leading to severe sequelae and even death. However, there is limited systematic research on the spectrum of pathogens causing AME in China. Here, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from 229 acute meningitis or encephalitis patients (AMEP) excluding Japanese encephalitis virus infections collected from multicenter of China between 2018 and 2019 were analyzed. The pathogen profile was comprehensively characterized using both 43-pathogens multiplex PCR (MPCR) and metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS). MPCR revealed that 73 (31.88%) cases had at least one potential pathogen. mNGS were conducted on 22 randomly selected AMEPs, and the results showed that mNGS reported all the pathogens detected by MPCR. Interestingly, mNGS successfully identified multiple pathogens in cases that were undiagnosed by MPCR. The most frequently detected viruses by MPCR were Human herpesvirus (HHV), Adenovirus, Enterovirus/Rhinovirus (Ev/Rv), and Bocavirus. The most abundant bacteria were Bordetella pertussis, Haemophilus influenzae, and Listeria monocytogenes. Coronavirus and other respiratory viruses could also induce AME. Ev/Rv were significantly enriched in the adolescent cases, and tick-borne encephalitis cases were concentrated in northeastern China. This study systematically characterized the pathogen spectrum and distribution of AME in China. Additionally, it revealed that combining MPCR and mNGS significantly improves the diagnostic rate of pathogens in AME. These findings will provide important support for the diagnosis, treatment, and development of drugs and vaccines for AME.

Indexed as

BacteriaEncephalitisMeningitisVirusesAcute DiseaseAdolescentAdultAgedChildChild, PreschoolChinaFemaleHigh-Throughput Nucleotide SequencingHumansInfantMaleAcute meningitisCerebrospinal fluidEncephalitisMetagenomic next generation sequencingMultiplex PCR

Identifiers

PMID41286718
PMCPMC12750636

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.