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Subject Area

Pediatrics

Article Type

Original Study

Abstract

Objectives To evaluate the role of serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) in the diagnosis of meningitis and differentiation between bacterial and viral causes. Background Acute bacterial meningitis (BM) is a pediatric emergency with high mortality and morbidity requiring prompt diagnosis and treatment. Differentiation of BM from viral meningitis (VM) is difficult. Hence, this study was done to evaluate serum IL-6 as a marker to differentiate BM and VM in children and assess its efficacy. Patients and methods This case–control study was conducted on a group of 90 children, comprising 60 with definite acute meningitis diagnosed clinically and confirmed by cerebrospinal fluid analysis and 30 apparently normal children. All were subjected to full history taking, clinical examination, laboratory investigations, and measurement of serum IL-6 level using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. Results Serum IL-6 level at a cutoff value more than 31 pg/ml had a sensitivity of 90% and specificity of 100% as a diagnostic marker for meningitis with area under the curve = 0.99, with positive predictive value of 97% and negative predictive value of 88%, and at a cutoff value of more than 48 pg/ml, it had a sensitivity of 99% and specificity of 98% to differentiate between BM and VM. In BM, mean ± SD serum IL-6 level was 74.93 ± 24.70, and in VM, mean ± SD serum IL-6 level was 34.93 ± 5.07. Conclusion Serum IL-6 level can be used as a diagnostic marker in patients with meningitis. It can also differentiate between BM and VM, as it was higher in BM than VM and control group.

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