Point-of-care multiplexed diagnosis of meningitis using the FilmArray® ME panel technology.

Infectious meningitis is a medical urgency and rapid detection of the causative pathogen into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is mandatory to guide the management of patients. We compared the performances of the multiplexed PCR FilmArray® ME panel with standard microbiological analyses, for rapid diagnosis of infectious meningitis. All the CSF samples received in our routine laboratory for the diagnosis of infectious meningitis were prospectively analyzed by the FilmArray® ME panel for the detection of fourteen targets in parallel to standard routine real-time PCR assays and bacterial culture.