A controlled study of the treatment of bacterial meningitis with single and multiple, potentially antagonistic antimicrobial drugs was undertaken. Sixty-five patients received a single and 71 received several drugs in combination. The two groups were generally comparable. There was no significant difference in the results: that is antagonism could not be demonstrated in this clinical study. It seems reasonable to recommend that, in patients over 1 month of age with acute primary bacterial meningitis in whom an etiologic agent cannot be promptly identified, the use of multiple drugs aimed at the three most likely organisms (pneumococcus, meningococcus, H. influenzae) can be employed without danger of clinically apparent antagonism.
A functional observational battery for evaluation of neurological outcomes in a rat model of acute bacterial meningitis
