الفهرس 
Introduction and aim of the work
Blood culturesOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Meningitis is an infection of the membranes (meninges) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) surrounding the brain and spinal cord. There are many types of meningitis: bacterial meningitis, viral meningitis, fungal (cryptoccal) meningitis and tuberculous meningitis. Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) is a common respiratory pathogen and an important cause of morbidity in humans. Early diagnosis and treatment of H. influenzae infection can greatly improve the likelihood of recovery. Detection of H. influenzae circulating antigen may be responsible approach for the diagnosis of meningitis. Hib antigen was detected in 102 CSF and serum samples of meningitis patients using ELISA and western blotting techniques. Western blot analysis showing a single immunoreactive band only in the sera and CSF of meningitis patients at 95-kDa. The Quantitation detection of Hib antigen was performed by assaying serial fivefold dilution of the antigen and calculating the result from a standard curve performed with each experiment. A significant correlation was shown between the concentration of Hib antigen in serum and CSF and no significant difference (p > 0.05) was shown between detection rate of Hib antigen in serum (58%) and CSF (61%) samples. We concluded that, ELISA facilitates investigations concerning pathogenic effects in human Hib disease so it can be used successfully in the detection of circulating H. influenzae antigen in CSF and Serum of meningitis patients. It is possible to use serum samples in the detection of the H. influenzae antigen other than CSF samples.