Andy:
This isn't really an answer to your question, as I don't know what the
average cfu/ml are in meningitis. However, CSF is a normally sterile body
fluid, so ANY growth is considered pathologic. Occasionally samples will
be contaminated with skin organisms, but the determination of whether it
is significant or not is made upon the nature of the isolate, rather than
the cfu/ml. One cfu/ml of Streptococcus pneumoniae is considered
significant. 100cfu/ml of Staphylcoccus epidermidis is usually considered
insignificant, unless the patient has some reason to have S. epidermidis
in their CSF.
Glen Tamura
On Mon, 13 Jul 1998, Andy wrote:
> Can anyone help me here?
> "what is a typical concentration of bacteria expected if bacterial
> meningitis is expected, in C.F.U. / ml"
>> Andy
>>>
