Bacterial Infection in Infants and Children with Fever Selected for Lumbar Puncture

ABSTRACT Lumbar puncture (LP) is performed frequently in Pediatric departments to diagnose meningitis in infants and young children with fever. Children selected to have LP who do not have meningitis may, however, have other bacterial infections. During a 2-year desciptive study, we investigated lumbar punctures performed in pediatric departments of Bou-Ali, Emam-Hossein and Loghmane-Hakim hospitals and monitored the incidence of meningitis and other bacterial infections. Meningitis was diagnosed in 8% of children who underwents LP. An additional 10.5% of children who underwent L.P and had normal amount of cerebrospinal fluid had positive cultures of blood(3.1%), Urine (4.1%) and stool(3/3%). The decision to perform lumbar puncture identifies children at risk of having not only meningitis but also other bacterial infections. 2 years old and younger children with normal cerebrospinal fluid should be considered for cultures of blood, urine and possibly stool.