Meningococcal ‘aseptic’ meningitis

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Abstract
The usefulness of the meningococcal CF test was assessed by investigating sera from (a) patients with meningococcal meningitis from whom meningococci had been isolated, and (b) patients with aseptic meningitis in whom no virus aetiology had been demonstrated and from whose C.S.F. no bacteria had been isolated.Meningococcal CF antibodies were relatively strain-specific; cross-reacting anti-bodies to heterologous strains were irregular both qualitatively and quantitatively.Positive meningococcal CF tests were obtained in 8 cases of aseptic meningitis, 3 showing a predominance of lymphocytes and 5 a predominance of polymorpho-nuclears in C.S.F. As a result of these positive tests, the cases of lymphocytic aseptic meningitis were given energetic antibiotic therapy to avoid the possibility of more chronic infection.We wish to thank many clinical and bacteriological colleagues for their co-operation, and Prof. S. Graham for details of one case. We are grateful to Dr Patricia Bradstreet, Standards Laboratory for Serological Reagents, London, N.W. 9, for meningococcal agglutination results, and to Miss C. Gourlay for valuable technical assistance.