Microbiological Outcomes Associated With Low Leukocyte Counts in Cerebrospinal Fluid

Mathieu Wald; Simona Merisor; Pierre Zachary; Olivier Augereau; Simon Gravier; Benoit Jaulhac; Dominique De Briel; Aurélie Velay; Guillaume Gregorowicz; Martin Martinot

doi:10.1093/ofid/ofaa597

Microbiological Outcomes Associated With Low Leukocyte Counts in Cerebrospinal Fluid

Open Forum Infect Dis. 2020 Dec 5;8(2):ofaa597. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofaa597. eCollection 2021 Feb.

Affiliations

¹ Infectious Diseases Department, Hôpitaux Civils de Colmar, France.
² Microbiology Department, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg, France.
³ Microbiology Department, Hôpitaux Civils de Colmar.
⁴ Virology Department, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg.

Abstract

The significance of low leukocyte counts in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) remains unclear. We performed a 2-year retrospective study to examine microbiological outcomes associated with CSF leukocytes at 6-10/mm³. Of the 178 samples examined, we detected positive results for 11 samples, including 5 cases of tick-borne encephalitis virus infection.

Keywords: cerebrospinal fluid; encephalitis; leukocytes; meningitis; tick-borne encephalitis.