Meningitis test displaces lumbar puncture

A new technique for rapid diagnosis of meningitis has been developed by researchers at the University of Wales, Cardiff. Funded by the Meningitis Research Foundation, the research project has resulted in a technique which allows an accurate diagnosis to be made within 30 minutes using blood and urine. This technique will be safer and faster than the lumbar puncture technique previously relied on.

The speed of diagnosis distinguishing between B and C strains is particularly important as there is a vaccine against the C strain, but not B. Implementation of this technique in hospital laboratories would require an inexpensive ultrasonic generator.