Use of Limulus Lysate for Detecting Gram-Negative Neonatal Meningitis

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The Limulus lysate test was evaluated as a method for rapid detection of neonatal gram-negative bacterial meningitis. CSF samples (208) were collected from 145 newborn infants suspected of having meningitis. Initial samples from all 6 babies with culture-proven gram-negative bacterial meningitis had positive Limulus tests within 30 min of incubation. Samples from 14 infants with gram-negative organisms isolated only in blood and/or urine, from 4 neonates with gram-positive organisms in CSF cultures and from 13 with gram-positive organisms in blood cultures all yielded negative Limulus tests. Of 37 newborn infants with bacteria demonstrated in systemic cultures, only those 6 with gram-negative organisms in CSF had positive CSF Limulus tests. The CSF Limulus test was a rapid, reliable, and specific test for the detection of neonatal gram-negative bacterial meningitis.

This publication has 8 references indexed in Scilit: