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Meningitis - gram-negative - Symptom

Alternative Names

Gram-negative meningitis

Symptoms:

Fever
Mental status changes
Nausea and vomiting
Sensitivity to light (photophobia)
Severe headache
Stiff neck
Symptoms of a bladder, kidney, intestine, or lung infection

Signs and tests:

A physical examination may show:

Fast heart rate
Low blood pressure
Stiff neck

For any patient with meningitis, it is important to perform a lumbar puncture ("spinal tap"), in which spinal fluid (known as cerebrospinal fluid, or CSF) is collected for testing.

Tests include:

Blood culture
CSF culture
CT scan of the brain
White blood cell count
Spinal fluid tests for white blood cells, glucose, protein
Special stain of the spinal fluid

Central nervous system

Reviewed last on: 9/28/2008
David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; and Jatin M. Vyas, PhD, MD, Instructor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Assistant in Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

References

Swartz MN. Meningitis: bacterial, viral, and other. In: Goldman L, Ausiello D, eds. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2007: chap 437.

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