Latex particle agglutination tests as an adjunct to the diagnosis of bacterial meningitis: a study from Malawi

A prospective study using a Latex particle agglutination test for the detection of bacterial antigens in CSF has been carried out in 91 patients in Kamuzu Central Hospital, Malawi. The antigens sought were those of Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae b, Neisseria meningitidis B/E. coli K1, and Neisseria meningitidis A,C,Y,W 135. Forty-one patients had proven bacterial meningitis, two had tuberculous meningitis, 39 had cerebral malaria, four had aseptic meningitis and five had convulsions. The sensitivity and specificity of the tests (Str. pneumoniae, 88% and 100%, H. influenzae b, 87% and 96%; N. meningitidis A,C,Y,W 135, 100% and 100%; and N. meningitidis B, 100% and 98%) were as good as those reported from developed countries. Unlike in some other parts of Africa, group B meningococci seem to predominate in cases of meningococcal meningitis in Malawi.