Meningitis after Lumbar Puncture in Children with Bacteremia

FOR over half a century clinical investigators have suggested an association between performance of a lumbar puncture during bacteremia and later development of meningitis.1 , 2 To determine whether such an association exists, we reviewed our experience at Boston City Hospital over nine years with 277 episodes of bacteremia in children considered mildly or moderately ill. We found a significant association between lumbar puncture performed during bacteremia and later development of bacterial meningitis in children under one year of age.MethodsFrom a log of all bacteremias occurring in children between September 1971 and December 1980, we obtained records of children whose . . .