Bacterial meningitis

Meningococcal disease: 2015 case definition[63]Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Meningococcal disease (Neisseria meningitidis): 2015 case definition. April 2021 [internet publication]. https://ndc.services.cdc.gov/case-definitions/meningococcal-disease-2015

Confirmed case

• Isolation of Neisseria meningitidis from a normally sterile body site (blood, cerebrospinal fluid [CSF], joint, pleural or pericardial fluid), or from skin scrapings of a purpuric lesion.

Probable case

• One of the following:

  • Positive DNA amplification test for N meningitidis performed on a normally sterile body fluid

  • Detection of N meningitidis antigen in CSF

  • Positive immunohistochemical staining for N meningitidis antigen on formalin-fixed tissue.

Suspect case

• Those with purpura fulminans who do not have N meningitidis isolated from blood cultures, or gram-negative diplococci, not yet identified, observed on stains of normally sterile body fluids.