Gene expression analyses for the differentiation between viral and bacterial meningitis in children.

Rapid detection of bacterial meningitis in children remains an important goal for emergency room doctors and paediatricians. The differentiation between viral and bacterial meningitis in children is mainly based on clinical scoring systems that are, however, neither 100% sensitive nor 100% specific. Additionally, adequate sampling of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is not always achievable. Recently, the value of gene expression analyses for infectious diseases has been illustrated in several clinical and experimental settings. Several studies were able to show a difference in gene expression between different types of influenza, between different types of bacterial infections, between tuberculosis and other inflammatory or infectious diseases in African children and between some viral infections and some bacterial infections. However, none of these studies specifically addressed the value of gene expression analyses in differentiating between viral and bacterial meningitis. In this multicentre prospective study, we will use whole blood gene expression analyses to differentiate between viral and bacterial infections in children with meningitis (N = 80). This study will add to the important clinical differentiation between viral and bacterial meningitis in children. Furthermore, we believe that the determination of the gene expression signalling in bacterial (but also viral) meningitis will elucidate the pathophysiology of this disease.

Keywords:MENINGITIS

Disciplines:Public health care, Public health sciences, Public health services

Project type:Collaboration project