Meningococcemia

Abstract

Meningococcemia literally means the presence and isolation of Neisseria meningitidis in the blood of a patient. Although it is an invariable phenomenon in the pathogenesis of meningococcal disease, it may in itself dominate the clinical picture. The clinical spectrum of meningococcemia ranges from a clinically inapparent, mostly oligo-symptomatic bacteremia as in benign or inapparent meningococcemia to overwhelming cases with early multiple-organ failure as in fulminant meningococcemia [1]. © 2007 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.