With the benefit of hindsight from this study,¹ which refuted the perception that convulsive status epilepticus is atypical of acute bacterial meningitis (ABM), cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) sampling might have been more readily undertaken, and perhaps more blood cultures done, given the fact that the latter modality sometimes tests positive even when CSF Gram stains are non-contributory.

The crux of the matter is how the index of suspicion for meningitis is “packaged”, and the bottom line is that, given the fact that both ABM and tuberculous meningitis (TBM) are eminently amenable to treatment, and without treatment death is an almost …