[Detection of bacterial meningitis by multiplex polymerase chain reaction].

Objective: To develop a rapid method for detecting 8 pathogens which were highly related to bacterial meningitis by multiplex polymerase chain reaction.

Method: By optimizing the reaction condition and amplification program of single pair polymerase chain reaction, the multiplex pairs polymerase chain reactions (M-PCR) was developed to identify eight pathogens simultaneously including Neisseria Meningitis, Haemophilus Influenzae, Streptococcus Pneumoniae, Cryptococcus Neoformans, Staphylococcus Aureus, Listerisa Monocytogene, Streptococcus Suis and Mycobacterium Tuberculosis. Meanwhile, The sensitivity of M-PCR assay was also studied.

Results: M-PCR methods for detecting 8 pathogens which could cause bacterial meningitis have been established. M-PCR showed specific, sensitive and more rapid than conventional culturing method.

Conclusion: This multiplex polymerase chain reaction method can be used for diagnosis and scanning of suspicious bacterial meningitis cases in order to improve the diagnostic positive rate of bacterial meningitis cases.