Incidence of meningitis in Manipal.

One thousand one hundred and seventy cerebro spinal fluid (CSF) samples from clinically diagnosed meningitis patients were subjected to macroscopic and microscopic examination. CSF samples were also cultured. Five percent CSF samples were positive for bacterial (4.3%) and fungal (0.7%) organisms. Gram positivity was observed in 6.4% samples. The percentage of bacterial isolates was highest in newborn and infants (6.1%) and (4.3%) in patients of 1-12 years age group. Cryptococcus species were isolated from 8 adult patients. Among Gram positive bacterial isolates, coagulase negative Staphylococci was highest (8%), followed by Pneumococci (6%) and B-haemolytic Streptococci (2%). Among Gram negative bacilli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa was predominant (42%) followed by Klebsiella species (20%) though Klebsiella was predominant in newborns and infants.