RESUMO
Samples of 1815 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were studied in a meningitis outbreak during 1989 in S ao Paulo, Brazil. Neisseria meningitis 56 per cent with 44 per cent type B, Haemophilus influenzae 17 per cent , from which 72 per cent in children (days to 3-year-old) and Streptococcus pneumoniae 14 per cent from which 60 per cent in children (day to 1-year-old) of 443 (24 per cent ) of all strains. Cytochemistry study showed: purulent or turbidity aspects in 70 to 79 per cent positive bacterioscopy or culture of CSF; white cells count > 500/mm3; glucose < 45 mg/dl; protein > 90 mg/dl in 90 per cent of all patients. We concluded that: CSF prognostic factors: (aspect and cytochemistry) were correlated with bacterial meningitis. Bacterioscopy and positive cultures were correlated to NM, SP and HI isolation from these patients (Goodman Test)