Active clinical trials for "Meningitis"

Pneumococcus is a bacteria that causes disease of the respiratory tract (pneumonia and middle ear infections), blood poisoning, and meningitis. It is frequently carried by people in back of the throat without symptoms. Pneumococcal carriage in the Thames Valley region has been studied over the last 12 years with carriage rates having been shown to be reflective of disease potential and hence vaccine effect. During this time pneumococcal vaccines have been introduced into the routine immunisation schedules of this community. The PCV7 (A vaccine against 7 types of pneumococcus) vaccine has subsequently been noted to have had a significant impact in reducing vaccine serotype carriage and disease. Herd protection (indirect protection of unvaccinated individuals) has also been implicated with vaccine serotypes not being carried in parents of vaccinated children. The most common serotype carried since the introduction of PCV7 is 19A, which is included in the PCV13 vaccine (A vaccine against 13 types of pneumococcus). PCV13 has superseded PCV7 in the routine immunisation schedule, however its impact on carriage and disease in this community is yet to be evaluated.

The study will determine if the initiation of a 'screen and treat' program for cryptococcal disease among HIV positive individuals decreases morbidity and mortality among individuals with CD4 count < 100 cells/mm3. The study will screen individuals who are asymptomatic for CM and are either ART naïve or ART experienced with CD4 count < 100 cells/mm3. The introduction of an cheap, easy to use point of care diagnostic test the lateral flow assay will facilitate rapid diagnosis of cryptococcal disease in resource limited settings. The investigators will determine the efficacy of the lateral flow assay in identifying latent and asymptomatic cryptococcal disease. The investigators will determine the efficacy of the test in detecting disease in readily available body fluids such as urine and whole blood obtained via finger-stick method. The investigators will also determine the cost effectiveness of a screen and treat approach for cryptococcal disease in Zimbabwe. The investigators also wish to understand why some individuals with low CD4 counts reactivate cryptococcal disease and screen positive for cryptococcal antigen (CrAg) while others with similar levels of immunocompromised do not.

This is an observational prospective study of an in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) assay planned to enroll 632 subjects. The study will be conducted in two stages: Stage A is aimed at identifying individual biomarkers and constructing a multi-parametric diagnostic model, whereas Stage B is aimed at testing the multi-parametric diagnostic model using a fresh cohort of patients. A collection of clinical, radiological and laboratory data will be gathered in order to establish a final diagnosis. Blood samples will be analyzed and the levels of approximately 700 and 250,000 biomarkers will be determined using immunoassays and molecular measurements respectively. A final diagnosis will be determined based on a majority decision of a panel of three or more independent physicians. Based on the final diagnosis, the accuracy of individual biomarkers and combined sets of biomarkers for differentiating between distinct groups of patients will be evaluated.

The purpose of this pre-licensure cohort study is to estimate the incidence of adverse events of special interest (AESI), other adverse events (AE) leading to hospitalisation or death, meningitis and malaria in sub-Saharan African children under 5 years of age. The outcomes of this study will provide the baseline data for the post-licensure EPI-MALARIA-003 (115056) study that will evaluate the safety, effectiveness and impact of the RTS,S/AS01E vaccine. An interim analysis was performed on a sub-group of study participants enrolled in active surveillance from sites where the vaccine is currently implemented, having 6 months of follow-up following the administration of dose 3 of DTP/HepB/Hib vaccine (6-12 weeks group), or 6 months after Visit 3 (mimicking the RTS,S/AS01E primary vaccination schedule) for the 5-17 months group; corresponding to Visit 5. The interim analysis concerned primary safety endpoints and the main secondary endpoints.

The aim of the study is to evaluate systematic pre-antiretroviral cryptococcal antigen screening and pre-emptive fluconazole therapy in antigen positive patients, as a strategy to reduce morbidity and mortality due to AIDS associated cryptococcal meningitis in patients starting antiretroviral therapy at <100 CD4 in Cameroon.

The first aim of this study is to investigate the frequency and severity of a specific pathological metabolic pattern, mitochondrial dysfunction, of the brain in comatose patients under neurocritical care. This pattern is recognized as a complication after compromised blood flow to the brain and may be amenable to treatment. The other main aim of this study is to correlate patterns of metabolites between brain and jugular venous blood. It is probable but not proven that jugular venous microdialysis can mirror the global metabolic state of the brain.

Encephalitis and meningitis are serious central nervous system diseases. There is currently a lack of comprehensive and accurate diagnosis and treatment pathways. Therefore, we conducted this multicenter, prospective, and randomized controlled study. It was designed to evaluate the diagnostic performance and its impact on the outcomes of the patients enrolled. As such, we came to the results of the optimal process of diagnosis and treatment strategy of encephalitis/meningeal syndromes with improved effective treatments.

Meningitis is a rare complication following neurosurgical procedures and is associated with high morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study is to describe the clinical characteristics and microbiological characteristics in patients who develope meningitis following neurosurgical operations, and investigate the useful tips for the differential diagnosis of postneurosurgical meningitis.

RATIONALE: Studying samples of cerebrospinal fluid from patients with cancer or meningeal syndrome may help doctors identify biomarkers related to cancer. PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying cerebrospinal fluid samples in diagnosing carcinomatous meningitis in patients with cancer or meningeal syndrome.

To study the clinical effectiveness and safety of amphotericin B with flucytosine-fluconazole therapy for cryptococcal meningitis in patients with HIV infection.