Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2018 Nov;36(4):687-703.
doi: 10.1016/j.ncl.2018.07.004.

Diagnostic Testing of Neurologic Infections

Affiliations
Review

Diagnostic Testing of Neurologic Infections

Prashanth S Ramachandran et al. Neurol Clin. 2018 Nov.

Abstract

Neuroinfectious diseases continue to cause morbidity and mortality worldwide, with many emerging or reemerging infections resulting in neurologic sequelae. Careful clinical evaluation coupled with appropriate laboratory investigations still forms the bedrock for making the correct etiologic diagnosis and implementing appropriate management. The treating physician needs to understand the individual test characteristics of each of the many conventional candidate-based diagnostics: culture, pathogen-specific polymerase chain reaction, antigen, antibody tests, used to diagnose the whole array of neuroinvasive infections. In addition, there is a growing need for more comprehensive, agnostic testing modalities that can identify a diversity of infections with a single assay.

Keywords: Encephalitis; Meningitis; Meningoencephalitis; Metagenomic next-generation sequencing; Neuroborreliosis; Neurocysticercosis; Neuroinfectious diseases; Neurosyphilis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. George BP, Schneider EB, Venkatesan A. Encephalitis hospitalization rates and inpatient mortality in the United States, 2000-2010. PLoS One 2014;9(9): e104169. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Vora NM, Holman RC, Mehal JM, et al. Neurology 2014;82(5):443–51. - PubMed
    1. Whitley RJ, Alford CA, Hirsch MS, et al. Vidarabine versus acyclovir therapy in herpes simplex encephalitis. N Engl J Med 1986;314(3):144–9. - PubMed
    1. Bohr V, Rasmussen N, Hansen B, et al. 875 cases of bacterial meningitis: diagnostic procedures and the impact of preadmission antibiotic therapy Part III of a three-part series. J Infect 1983;7(3):193–202. - PubMed
    1. Michael B, Menezes B, Cunniffe J, et al. Effect of delayed lumbar punctures on the diagnosis of acute bacterial meningitis in adults. Emerg Med J 2010;27(6):433–8. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms