Evaluation of a TaqMan Array Card for Detection of Central Nervous System Infections

摘要

Infections of the central nervous system (CNS) such as meningitis, encephalitis, or meningoencephalitis may present as an acute illness with significant mortality and extended sequelae (1). Because these infections are often difficult to diagnose in the laboratory, clinical diagnoses often rely upon modern noninvasive techniques, including computerized tomography scans and in some cases magnetic resonance imaging. Access to these advanced clinical diagnostic techniques is limited to large metropolitan hospitals rarely found in developing countries. Even with neuroimaging, the determination of etiologic agents causing meningitis and encephalitis remains complicated, requiring confirmation using other laboratory tests (2, 3). Laboratory tests can identify a number of etiological agents responsible for bacterial and viral meningitis. Timely identification of these agents continues to be challenging in developing countries, where physicians frequently resort to empirical treatment with little or no benefit.