Comparison of culture and PCR methods in the diagnosis of bacterial meningitis

Abstract Our aim in this study is to compare the standard culture method with the multiplex PCR and the Speed-Oligo® Bacterial Meningitis Test (SO-BMT) – a hybridization-based molecular test method – during the CSF examination of the patients with the pre-diagnosis of acute bacterial meningitis. For the purposes of this study, patients with acute bacterial meningitis treated at the Dicle University Medical Faculty Hospital, Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology Clinic between December 2009 and April 2012 were retrospectively evaluated. The diagnosis of bacterial meningitis was mad...