Disease models of acute bacterial meningitis

Despite effective antibiotics, bacterial meningitis remains among the top ten infectious causes of death. Recently, the rise of multiresistant pathogens poses an additional problem. Because in vitro models of bacterial meningitis have several limitations, animal models are crucial to study the complex pathogenic and pathophysiologic disease mechanisms and to establish effective adjuvant treatment strategies. Several promising candidates for the adjuvant therapy of acute bacterial meningitis have been identified during the past years.

Section editors:Enitan Carrol – Malawi–Liverpool–Wellcome Trust Clinical Research, Blantyre and Liverpool, Malawi and UKAndrew Riordan – Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, Birmingham, UK