Abstract：Purulent meningitis (PM) is a common neurological infectious disease with low specificity of clinical symptoms in children. If the diagnosis is solely based on clinical symptoms, it may lead to the delay of appropriate antimicrobial therapy. Laboratory tests, including peripheral blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) tests can improve the ability of early diagnosis of PM. Elevated lactate level in CSF, decreased CSF glucose/blood glucose ratio, and positive PCR are independent predictors of PM. However, the laboratory examination results of some children are still atypical, and the test results are even conflict with each other. Therefore, the author mainly summarizes the common peripheral blood and CSF test indicators in the diagnosis of PM, and summarizes the efficacy of each indicator in the diagnosis of PM, so as to guide the early clinical diagnosis.
