ArticleResearch square2025
Does cerebrospinal fluid multiplex polymerase chain reaction meningitis panel help manage children with meningitis?
Article in Research square, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
- Updated by
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Back round: Meningitis has significant clinical morbidity and mortality in children. Mortality in children, especially neonates, is high due to diagnostic difficulty. Diagnosis of pediatric meningitis is traditionally made using CSF parameters and cultures. The performance of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) meningitis panel needs further evaluation in the pediatric population. Methods: Medical records of children with a positive CSF multiplex panel (June 1, 2016 to August 31, 2018) were reviewed retrospectively. We extracted data about antimicrobials used, laboratory and culture results, duration of antibiotic treatment and hospital stay. Results: A total of 79 children (age, 1 d to 12 y) were identified, including 58 children with viral (73%) and 21 children (27%) with bacterial meningitis. The most frequent viruses were enterovirus in all age groups. Empiric antibiotics were discontinued within 24 h in 14 of 40 patients (35%) positive for viral meningitis. Specific antiviral therapy was rapidly initiated in 6 out of 58 patients (10%). Antibiotics were stopped or never initiated when viral etiology was identified. Even when the CSF sample was inadequate for analysis, the pathogenic organism was identified particularly helpful in the infants. In antibiotic pretreated patients, the organism was identified even when the cultures were negative. CSF multiplex panel identified 13 patients who had bacterial meningitis despite negative CSF cultures. Twelve of these 13 patients (92%) were pretreated with antibiotics. Modification of antibiotic therapy was never the result of CSF multiplex panel. Duration of antibiotic treatment and hospital stay were substantially shorter in patients with viral as opposed to bacterial meningitis. Conclusions: CSF multiplex panel saves brain as it is rapid, specific, and highly sensitive. It also reduces the healthcare cost, and its use is highly recommended in a pediatric population.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.